bawaan

Bawaan is a term in Malay and Indonesian that functions as a noun. It refers to items that someone brings with them, i.e., belongings or baggage carried when traveling, moving, or staying somewhere. Beyond physical goods, bawaan can also be used in a broader sense to denote things one carries with oneself by habit or circumstance, including dispositions or tendencies.

In addition to its everyday sense, bawaan can describe inherited or naturally occurring traits. In this usage, the phrase bawaan lahir or bawaan sejak lahir is used to talk about inborn characteristics or predispositions that a person carries from birth, rather than something learned or acquired later.

Culturally, bawaan appears in contexts related to social and family life. For example, in Malay-speaking communities, phrases like bawaan pengantin may refer to the goods brought by a bride or groom as part of wedding or household preparations. The term can also be used metaphorically to describe emotional or social baggage carried from past experiences.

Etymology and usage notes: bawaan is formed from the root bawa, meaning to carry, with the suffix -an that turns the verb into a noun referring to the things carried or the concept of carrying. It is used in both Indonesia and Malaysia, with slight variations in common collocations. Typical expressions include barang bawaan (belongings), bawaan bayi (baby belongings), and bawaan pengantin (wedding-related goods).