mentah

Mentah is a native word in Indonesian and Malay that functions as an adjective meaning raw, uncooked, unripe, or undeveloped. Its primary sense describes food or agricultural products that have not been cooked or ripened, as in daging mentah (raw meat), sayur mentah (raw vegetables), or buah mentah (unripe fruit). It can also refer to materials or substances that have not yet been processed, such as produk mentah or bijih mentah in broader contexts.

In non-culinary usage, mentah conveys an idea of incompleteness or lack of refinement. A plan, a draft, or a presentation can be described as mentah when it is still rough, undeveloped, or lacking polish, for example ide mentah or presentasi yang masih mentah.

The term is used across Indonesian and Malay dialects with similar meaning, and is often contrasted with matang, which denotes ripeness, thorough cooking, or full development. As a descriptor, mentah is widely understood in everyday speech and media, and it can pair with many nouns to express the initial, unprocessed state of something.

See also: matang, raw, uncooked, unripe, unprocessed. Note: Mentah is not a proper noun in standard usage unless part of a name; always verify regional usage for local contexts.