pekat

Pekat is a term used in Malay and Indonesian to describe something that is thick, dense, or highly concentrated. It can refer to physical density, such as a viscous liquid or a compact substance, as well as to non-physical qualities like darkness, flavor intensity, or the heaviness of weather or atmosphere.

In everyday usage, pekat commonly appears in food and beverage contexts. Examples include kopi pekat (strong coffee) and susu pekat manis or susu kental manis (sweetened condensed milk). It can also describe sauces, soups, or pastes that have a thick, viscous consistency, such as saus pekat or kuah pekat. Beyond cuisine, pekat is used for weather or visibility, with phrases like kabut pekat (thick fog) or asap pekat (thick smoke), and for color or appearance, such as warna pekat (deep, saturated color).

Linguistically, pekat is found in both Malay and Indonesian, often forming adjectives or compound phrases. The related noun pekatan or the form pekatan-ness can indicate the degree or state of thickness or concentration. In many contexts, pekat is synonymous with other density-related terms such as kental, tebal, or padat, though each word carries subtle nuance: pekat tends to emphasize viscosity, richness, or intensity, while kental is a broader term for thickness and density.

Overall, pekat functions as a versatile descriptor across everyday language in Malay-speaking and Indonesian-speaking regions, enabling concise expression of density, strength, and concentration in both tangible and figurative senses.