Etymograph

English

proa

Proa comes from Malay perahu ‘boat (water craft)’, and goes back to Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *paraqu.

  1. Proto-Malayo-Polynesianprehistoric (reconstructed)*paraqu1‘boat, ship, sailing vessel’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Malayicprehistoric (reconstructed)*pərahu1reconstructed
  3. Malaymodernperahu2as perau‘boat (water craft)’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 2020proa2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Malay perahu
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English proa
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2020, Sujit Sivasundaram, Waves Across the South: “Malay ‘prahu’ or proa were said to be more…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Malayo-Polynesianprehistoric (reconstructed)*paraquWiktionary, Malay perahu‘boat, ship, sailing vessel’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Malayicprehistoric (reconstructed)*pərahuWiktionary, Malay perahureconstructed
  3. MalaymodernperahuWiktionary, English proaas perau‘boat (water craft)’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 2020proaWiktionary, English proa. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2020, Sujit Sivasundaram, Waves Across the South: “Malay ‘prahu’ or proa were said to be more…”

The story

In some forms via Portuguese parão or Dutch prauw; in some forms assimilated to prow.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Every English word from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *paraqu

Today it means

noun A sailing vessel found in the waters of Micronesia and Indonesia; it has a single, large outrigger and a triangular sail.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “proa”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Malay perahu. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *paraqu / proa

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