sejenis

Sejenis is a word used in Indonesian and Malay to indicate that two or more things belong to the same kind, type, or category, or are broadly similar in nature. It is often employed to group items in everyday language, education, and media without implying specific taxonomic relations.

Etymology and usage: The word is formed from the prefix se- combined with jenis, which means kind or type. The combination conveys sameness within a class, rather than precise scientific classification. In practice, sejenis can modify nouns to express a general grouping, as in "buah sejenis jeruk" (citrus fruits) or "hewan sejenis" (animals of the same kind). It can also be used in comparative statements such as "dua spesies sejenis" (two similar species) or "benda sejenis" (two objects of the same type).

Nuance and context: Sejenis tends to signal a broad category rather than exact taxonomic rank. It is versatile and appears in informal speech as well as formal writing, though in scientific contexts more precise terms like spesies (species), genus, or family are preferred. The word can be used with various parts of speech and often appears in phrases that discuss classification, comparison, or general properties.

Related terms: jenis (kind, type), sekelompok/kelompok (group), serupa (similar), and sejenisnya (and the like). In Indonesian and Malay grammar, sejenis serves as a practical connector for describing categories and similarities without asserting exact scientific relationships.