Comparle

Indonesianpractice word

gotong royong

GO-tong ROY-ong[ˈɡotoŋ ˈrojoŋ]

a community shouldering one job together — cooperation

Closest in English: cooperation, teamwork, mutual-aid. None of them covers it.

Play this word Or today's word ›

The story

In parts of Indonesia a village will still lift a whole wooden house onto dozens of shoulders and walk it to a new plot. In 1945 Sukarno told the independence committee that if the new state's five principles were squeezed into one word, that word was gotong royong. The nearest English picture is a barn-raising.

How it went in the game

Contains the answers. If you want to play the word yourself first, leave this closed.

  1. Which language is it from?Indonesian
  2. What does it literally say?Carry-together
  3. Where would you hear it?A whole street clearing storm debris
  4. What does it mean?Neighbours shouldering a job together

More Indonesian words

All Indonesian words ›