Etymograph

English

sama-sama

Sama-sama comes from Malay sama ‘same’, and goes back to Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *sama ‘mate, companion, fellow’.

  1. Proto-Malayo-Polynesianprehistoric (reconstructed)*sama1‘mate, companion, fellow’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Malayicprehistoric (reconstructed)*sama1reconstructed
  3. Malaymodernsama2‘same’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 2006sama-sama2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Malay sama
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English sama-sama
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2006, Kaffein-nated: Funny Thing: Singlish:: “What else, you tell me, can make a group…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Malayo-Polynesianprehistoric (reconstructed)*samaWiktionary, Malay sama‘mate, companion, fellow’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Malayicprehistoric (reconstructed)*samaWiktionary, Malay samareconstructed
  3. MalaymodernsamaWiktionary, English sama-sama‘same’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 2006sama-samaWiktionary, English sama-sama. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2006, Kaffein-nated: Funny Thing: Singlish:: “What else, you tell me, can make a group…”

Every English word from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *sama

Today it means

adj The same; identical.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “sama-sama”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Malay sama. 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 *sama / sama-sama

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