Khmer

//kəˈmɛə(ɹ)// adj, name, noun

adj, name, noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A member of an ethnolinguistic group that constitutes most of the population of Cambodia.
  2. 2
    the Mon-Khmer language spoken in Cambodia wordnet
  3. 3
    a member of the predominant ethnic group in Cambodia wordnet
Adjective
  1. 1
    Of or pertaining to the Khmer people or their language.
Proper Noun
  1. 1
    The national language of Cambodia, part of the Mon-Khmer language family.

    "Despite my mother speaking Khmer to us at home, I hadn’t retained it through my formative years."

  2. 2
    An abugida used to write the Khmer language and sometimes Pali.

Synonyms

All synonyms
cambodiancambodianenglishkampucheankampucheankhmer language

Example

More examples

"Cambodia is called "Kampuchea" in Khmer."

Etymology

From Khmer ខ្មែរ (khmae). Attributed to the Pali term khemara (“one who is wholesome”). The elision form, ក្មេរ (kmera), is found in ancient stone inscriptions, or a borrowing from Northern Khmer เขมร (/⁠khmɛːr⁠/).

Related phrases

Old Khmerkhmer rougemon khmer

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.