Kapak

Kapak is a term that has different meanings depending on language. In Turkish, kapak means a lid or cover for a container, jar, box, or other item. It refers to the part that closes or seals objects, and is used in everyday speech to describe kitchenware, packaging, and mechanical or architectural components that have a closing cover.

In Malay and Indonesian, kapak denotes an axe, a hand tool with a heavy blade used for chopping wood, clearing land, or felling trees. The kapak is a traditional and practical instrument in rural and agricultural settings, available in various sizes and styles tailored to different tasks and regional practices.

The two primary senses of kapak in Turkish and in Malay/Indonesian appear to be unrelated etymologically, reflecting distinct linguistic roots rather than a shared origin. As a result, the same spelling represents different objects in these language communities, illustrating how a single word can diverge in meaning across languages.

Beyond these core meanings, kapak may appear in compound terms or regional phrases within each language, but its essential senses remain as described: lid or cover in Turkish contexts, and axe in Malay and Indonesian contexts.