kampong

American

[kahm-pawng, -pong, kahm-pawng, -pong] / ˈkɑm pɔŋ, -pɒŋ, kɑmˈpɔŋ, -ˈpɒŋ /

Or campong

noun

a small village or community of houses in Malay-speaking lands.

kampong British

/ kæmˈpɒŋ, ˈkæmpɒŋ /

noun

(in Malaysia) a village

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of kampong

1835–45; < Malay kampung, kampong grouping or gathering together, especially a village; compound ²

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Mr Oh grew up together with his family in Sungei Tengah - a local kampong - or village.

From BBC • Feb. 19, 2022

Most kampong residents were offered new homes by the government, but Mr Oh was unable to secure a place of his own.

From BBC • Feb. 19, 2022

The kampong has long since disappeared, and the coast has changed beyond recognition.

From New York Times • Apr. 20, 2017

The artist Charles Lim Yi Yong grew up in a kampong, or village, near where work on the airport began in 1975, so his house looked out onto reclaimed land.

From New York Times • Apr. 20, 2017

There seemed to be an epidemic of cholerine among the children, three having already died and one succumbed while we were at the kampong.

From Through Central Borneo; an Account of Two Years' Travel in the Land of Head-Hunters Between the Years 1913 and 1917 by Lumholtz, Carl

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023