Etymograph

English

slendro

Slendro comes from Javanese ꦱ꧀ꦭꦺꦤ꧀ꦢꦿꦺꦴ ‘slendro: a pentatonic scale’.

  1. Javanesemodernꦱ꧀ꦭꦺꦤ꧀ꦢꦿꦺꦴ1sléndro‘slendro: a pentatonic scale’
  2. Englishtodayslendro1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English slendro

Earlier history uncertain. See Wiktionary.

Lineage

  1. Javanesemodernꦱ꧀ꦭꦺꦤ꧀ꦢꦿꦺꦴWiktionary, English slendrosléndro‘slendro: a pentatonic scale’
  2. EnglishtodayslendroWiktionary, English slendro

The story

In Javanese the term is said to derive either from "Sailendra", the name of the ruling family in the eighth and ninth centuries when Borobudur was built, or from its earlier being given by the god Sang Hyang Hendra.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Every English word from Javanese ꦱ꧀ꦭꦺꦤ꧀ꦢꦿꦺꦴ

Today it means

noun A pentatonic scale, the older of the two most common scales used in Indonesian gamelan music, the other being pelog.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “slendro”. 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 / Javanese ꦱ꧀ꦭꦺꦤ꧀ꦢꦿꦺꦴ / slendro

Shirt and support for this word