malam

Malam is the word for "night" in both Malay and Indonesian. It serves as a basic unit of time in daily speech and appears in a wide range of expressions. In Malay, semalam means yesterday or the night before, while in Indonesian malam functions similarly as the general term for night.

Common phrases built from malam include malam hari, meaning at night or during the nighttime, and malam ini, meaning tonight. In Indonesian context, malam minggu refers to Saturday night and is used to describe social activities that typically occur on weekends. These phrases illustrate how malam operates in everyday communication as a versatile temporal marker.

Culturally and literarily, malam often evokes atmosphere in poetry, songs, and storytelling, where the night can symbolize reflection, mystery, or romance. Because night hours shape experiences such as travel, work shifts, and social life, the term appears frequently in media titles and everyday narration across Malay- and Indonesian-speaking communities.

Linguistically, malam is part of the Austronesian language family and is cognate across related Malayic languages. Its usage is widespread in both formal and informal registers, from news reporting to everyday conversation. While the word can appear in proper names or place names in some contexts outside language study, its primary function remains as the common noun for night in Malay and Indonesian.