seribu

Seribu is the Indonesian and Malay word for the number one thousand. It is formed from the prefix se- meaning a single unit, attached to ribu, the word for thousand. This pattern is part of a broader system in these languages that creates unit numbers by combining se- with a base numeral.

As a numeral, seribu is used to quantify nouns. Examples include seribu rupiah (one thousand rupiah), seribu orang (one thousand people), and seribu kilometer (one thousand kilometers). The term also appears in fixed expressions and idioms, such as seribu satu malam, a reference to the collection commonly known as One Thousand and One Nights.

In everyday and formal language, seribu helps express precise amounts as well as approximate scales. It is typically written as a single word, with spacing used only between the numeral and the modified noun (for example, seribu rupiah, seribu orang). The word remains a common part of basic numeracy in Indonesian and Malay, and it frequently surfaces in literature, media, and everyday conversation.

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