pengali

Pengali is a term used in Indonesian and Malay to denote a multiplier—the factor by which a quantity is scaled or increased. The word is formed from the root kali, meaning “times,” with the agentive prefix pe- and the suffix -i, indicating “the thing that multiplies” or “the multiplier.” In mathematical contexts, pengali refers to the numeric factor that scales another value.

In arithmetic, the pengali is the number by which another quantity is multiplied. For example, in the expression 7 × 4, the pengali of 7 is 4, since multiplying the two numbers yields 28. The concept extends to algebra and more general computations as a scaling factor or multiplier in various formulas and models.

Beyond pure mathematics, pengali is used in contexts such as finance, statistics, and data analysis to describe any factor that increases or scales a quantity. For instance, a growth pengali of 1.05 represents a 5% increase, while a conversion pengali translates units from one system to another. In education and textbooks, the term is common in explanations of multiplication and proportional relationships, sometimes referred to as “faktor pengali.”

See also: multiplier, multiplier factor, scaling factor, coefficient.