buah

Buah is the Malay and Indonesian word for fruit. In both languages it refers to the edible, seed-containing products of plants that are typically consumed fresh or used in cooking. The term can also function as a classifier when counting discrete items such as fruits and certain other goods, so you can say dua buah apel or tiga buah buku. The plural form buah-buahan is commonly used to refer to fruit in general.

Etymology traces to Malay and Indonesian, with cognates in other Austronesian languages. In modern usage, buah spans both a concrete noun (the fruit itself) and a grammatical classifier used after numerals.

In cultural and culinary contexts, buah covers a wide range of tropical fruits grown in Southeast Asia, including mangga (mango), durian, rambutan, pisang (banana), and many others. They are consumed fresh, used in desserts, jams, juices, and traditional dishes. Fruit production supports local agriculture and export economies in many Southeast Asian countries.

Linguistic notes: the phrase buah hati is a common idiom meaning "darling" or "sweetheart," illustrating how the word is extended beyond its literal sense.