Dyak
(ˈdaɪæk)
Also Daya(c)k, Dayakker.
[f. Mal. dayak up-country.]
A member of one of the aboriginal peoples inhabiting parts of Borneo and Sarawak, often divided into Land Dyaks and Sea Dyaks; the language of these peoples. Also attrib. or adj.
| 1836 Penny Cycl. V. 189/2 The mines are only wrought by the Dayacks. 1840 J. Brooke Jrnl. 2 Oct. in E. Hahn J. Brooke of Sarawak (1953) iv. 51 The arrival of various Dyak tribes. 1876 Encycl. Brit. IV. 58/1 The Dyaks, Dayaks, or Dayakkers are..broken into numerous tribes. 1880 Ibid. V. 818/1 Among the other languages which have been reduced to writing and grammatically analysed are the Balinese..the Dayak, and the Macassarese. 1882 Jrnl. Straits Branch R. Asiatic Soc. (1883) Dec. 213 (title) Sea Dyak religion. Ibid., They may be regarded as the racial gods of the Sea-Dyaks. 1893 Russan & Boyle Orchid Seekers xii. 134 Squatting on their ‘tail-mats’ to the Collector's right hand..were the Dyaks; on the left lay the Malays. Ibid. xiii. 151 On every side rose cries of terror in Malay and Dyak. 1924 D. H. Lawrence in Adelphi I. 883 How apparently untamed the savage may be, Dyak or Hottentot, you may be sure he is grinding upon his own..ideas. 1937 Discovery Jan. 7/1 The Dyak tribes. Ibid., The inhabitants inland are divided into two distinct races, known as the Sea and Land Dyaks. 1957 W. R. Geddes Nine Dyak Nights v. 44 Orang Kaya, meaning ‘Rich Man’..is not a traditional Dyak title—the words are not even Dyak, but Malay. 1966 L. W. Jones Pop. Borneo iii. 35 A half of the Dyak population..had disappeared in ten years as a result of forced labour, slavery, sickness and the sword. 1968 Listener 4 Apr. 427/2 West Borneo['s]..population of one and a half million Dayaks and Chinese. |