sayang

• (Singaporean & Malaysian English): Borrowed from Malay sayang.
• (Philippine English): Borrowed from Tagalog sayang.

• (Singapore English, Malaysian English) IPA^(key): /ˈsʌɪjɑŋ/
• (Philippine English) IPA^(key): /ˈsa.jɑŋ/

sayang (uncountable) (Singapore, Malaysia, colloquial)

1. love
2. sweetheart, darling

sayang (indeclinable) (Singapore, Malaysia, colloquial)

1. to love, adore

   He does sayang me a lot

2. to regret, to miss (regret the absence of)
3. to soothe
4. to call someone by an affectionate nickname such as 'darling'

sayang (comparative more sayang, superlative most sayang) (Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines, colloquial)

1. pitiful, regrettable

sayang (Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines, colloquial)

1. alas, what a pity!
   • 2005, Alex Garland, “Sandmen”, in The Tesseract‎, Penguin Group (USA) Inc., →ISBN:

     “Um, okay...” Rosa glanced at the blank boxes. “Cried over spilled milk. Six letters, third letter is a...”
     “Sayang,” said the old man cheerfully.
     “Sayang. It fits, po...”
     “Sayang. That's what I say whenever I spill some milk.” He cackled.
     “With these weak wrists and fingers, I say sayang several times a day! Give me another.”

   • 2017, Russell Molina, “Magic Secrets, Revealed”, in Bumasa at Lumaya 2: A Sourcebook on Children's Literature in the Philippines‎, Anvil Publishing, Inc., →ISBN:

     But going back to my dad, he died four years ago of leukemia. So he never met my daughter and he never reached the date of our wedding. So sayang. So I decided I wanted to write a book about him. I wanted to write a book for him and about him, for my daughter so she would get to know her lolo. And I was really stumped. Wala akong maisip about a story. This was the time when I just wrote Tuwing Sabado.

• sayang at A Dictionary of Singlish

• yagnas

From Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *sayaŋ (“too bad! it’s a pity! what a shame!”).

• Hyphenation: sa‧yang
• IPA^(key): /ˈsajaŋ/

sayang

1. pity; shame

   Synonyms: hirak, supog

2. waste

   Synonyms: kanugon, rawraw, rakwa, ratak

sayang!

1. what a pity; what a shame; what a waste

From Malay sayang (“yearning; longing; pitying; love; affection; it were a pity; alas that”), from Classical Malay سايڠ‎ (sayang),

• from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *sayaŋ (“too bad! it’s a pity! what a shame!”).
• from New/Middle Indo-Aryan (such as Punjabi sāīyā̃ (“master”) and Nepali [script needed] (saiyā̃, “master”)), from Sanskrit स्वामी (svāmī), singular nominative of स्वामिन् (svāmín).[1] Therefore, doublet of suami.

• IPA^(key): /ˈsajaŋ/
• Rhymes: -jaŋ, -aŋ, -ŋ
• Hyphenation: sa‧yang

sayang (first-person possessive sayangku, second-person possessive sayangmu, third-person possessive sayangnya)

1. love

   Synonyms: cinta, kasih

2. sweetheart; darling

sayang

1. to love

• “sayang” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Language Development and Fostering Agency — Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic Indonesia, 2016.

From Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *sayaŋ (“too bad! it’s a pity! what a shame!”).

• Rhymes: -jaŋ, -aŋ

sayang (Jawi spelling سايڠ‎, plural sayang-sayang, informal 1st possessive sayangku, 2nd possessive sayangmu, 3rd possessive sayangnya)

1. love
2. sweetheart; darling

• Indonesian: sayang
• → English: sayang

sayang

1. to love

• Indonesian: sayang
• → English: sayang
• → Hokkien: 捎央, 沙央 (sa-iang)

sayang (Jawi spelling سايڠ‎)

1. to be loving, affectionate

• Indonesian: sayang
• → English: sayang

sayang (Jawi spelling سايڠ‎)

1. what a pity

• Indonesian: sayang
• → English: sayang
• → Hokkien: 捎央, 沙央 (sa-iang)

• “sayang” in Pusat Rujukan Persuratan Melayu | Malay Literary Reference Centre, Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, 2017.

From Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *sayaŋ (“too bad! it’s a pity! what a shame!”). Compare Bikol Central sayang, Kapampangan sayang, and Malay sayang.

• Hyphenation: sa‧yang
• IPA^(key): /ˈsajaŋ/, [ˈsa.jɐŋ]
• IPA^(key): /saˈjaŋ/, [sɐˈjaŋ] (adjective)

sayang (Baybayin spelling ᜐᜌᜅ᜔)

1. what a pity!

sayang (Baybayin spelling ᜐᜌᜅ᜔)

1. waste; wasting (of a resource, talent, etc.)

   Synonyms: pagsayang, pagkasayang

2. useless spending; useless consumption

   Synonyms: aksaya, pag-aksaya, pag-aaksaya

3. waste of an opportunity; failure to take advantage
4. gradual loss, decrease, or destruction by decay, etc.

sayáng (Baybayin spelling ᜐᜌᜅ᜔)

1. wasted; uselessly spent or consumed