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pontianak

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pontianak¹

Where it comes from

Borrowed from Malay puntianak.

noun pontianaks

  1. countable A female vampiric ghost in Malaysian and Indonesian mythology, said to be the spirit of a woman who died while pregnant. One of the most fearsome creatures of Malay folklore is the pontianak.
  2. alternative, countable, uncountable Alternative form of pontianac (“fossil resin”).

Pontianak²

Where it comes from

From Indonesian Pontianak, named for the pontianaks which were popularly thought to have once inhabited the site.

proper noun Pontianac

  1. The capital and largest city of West Kalimantan, Indonesia.

Translations

Every language

name Indonesian city on Kalimantan

中文坤甸 Kūndiàn

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MLA

"pontianak." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/pontianak. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

pontianak. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/pontianak

Chicago

"pontianak." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/pontianak.

BibTeX
@misc{pontianak_2026,
  title = {pontianak},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/pontianak},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}