Secara

Secara is a function word used in the Indonesian and Malay languages to express manner, method, or scope. It is typically translated as “in a … way” or “by …” and is used to qualify verbs, adjectives, or nouns, indicating how an action is performed or the general nature of a statement. The word often appears before adjectives or nominal phrases to form adverbial expressions that convey broader or indirect aspects rather than a specific instance.

Common examples include phrases such as secara umum (in general), secara finansial (financially), secara resmi (officially), secara pribadi (personally), and secara hukum (legally). In formal writing and discourse—such as policy documents, journalism, and academic texts—secara helps frame statements as general, non-direct, or method-based rather than pointing to a single concrete action.

Etymologically, secara is linked to cara, meaning “way” or “manner,” with the prefix se- used in Indonesian and Malay to denote totality or generalization. As a result, secara functions as a grammatical marker rather than a content word, and it does not carry independent lexical meaning outside the phrases it forms.

Secara is not typically used as a proper noun; rather, its role is to modify and qualify other words within sentences. Its usage reflects common patterns in Indonesian and Malay syntax for expressing generality, method, or stance.