FromMalaymata-mata(“eyes”), plural ofmata.Doublet ofmaka, from Hawaiian.

mata-mata (pluralmata-matas)

1. (Singapore, Malaysia, slang) Apolice officer.

• Mama Tata

Inherited fromMalaymata-mata. Equivalent toreduplication ofmata(“eye”).

• (Standard Indonesian)IPA^(key): /ˌmata ˈmata/[ˌma.t̪a ˈma.t̪a]
• Rhymes:-ata
• Syllabification:ma‧ta-ma‧ta

mata-mata

1. (rare)plural ofmata

mata-mata (pluralmata-mataorpara mata-mara)

1. spy(a person who secretly watches and examines the actions of another individual or organization)

   Synonyms:pengintai,agen rahasia,intelijen

• The word is part offalse friends between Standard Malay and Indonesian due toshared etymology. The Brunei, Malaysia and Singapore usage can be seen inMalaymata-mata.

• “mata-mata” inKamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta:Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016.

Reduplication ofmata(“eye”). Frommata +mata.

• IPA^(key): /mata mata/
  • (Johor-Riau)IPA^(key): [matə matə]
• Rhymes:-ta,-a

mata-mata (Jawi spellingمات٢)

1. Plural ofmata.

mata-mata (Jawi spellingمات٢,pluralbanyak mata-mata)

1. Apolice officer.

   Synonyms:polis,perajurit

2. Aspy.

   Synonyms:ejen rahsia,pengintip,perisik,luluk

The word is part offalse friends between Standard Malay and Indonesian due toshared etymology. The Indonesian usage can be seen inIndonesianmata-mata.

• > Indonesian:mata-mata(inherited)
• → English:mata-mata
• → Chinese:馬打／马打 (mǎdǎ)
  • → Thai:หมาต๋า(mǎa-dtǎa)
• →? Vietnamese:mã tà

• “mata-mata” inPusat Rujukan Persuratan Melayu | Malay Literary Reference Centre, Kuala Lumpur:Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, 2017.
• "mata-mata" inKamus Dewan, Fourth Edition,Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka,→ISBN, 2005.

mata-mata m (pluralmata-matas)

1. (Brazil, sports)playoff
2. (Brazil, sports)knockout,qualifyinground,(UK)tie(tournament in which a team or player must beat the opponent in order to progress)

mata-mata f (pluralmata-matas)

1. (Brazil)Alternative spelling ofmatamatá

• “mata-mata”, inDicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam,2008–2025

• English terms borrowed from Malay
• English terms derived from Malay
• English doublets
• English lemmas
• English nouns
• English countable nouns
• English multiword terms
• Singapore English
• Malaysian English
• English slang
• Indonesian terms inherited from Malay
• Indonesian terms derived from Malay
• Indonesian reduplications
• Indonesian terms with IPA pronunciation
• Rhymes:Indonesian/ata
• Rhymes:Indonesian/ata/4 syllables
• Indonesian non-lemma forms
• Indonesian noun forms
• Indonesian terms with rare senses
• Indonesian lemmas
• Indonesian nouns
• Indonesian multiword terms
• Malay reduplications
• Malay terms with IPA pronunciation
• Rhymes:Malay/ta
• Rhymes:Malay/a
• Rhymes:Malay/a/4 syllables
• Malay lemmas
• Malay nouns
• Malay uncountable nouns
• Malay multiword terms
• Portuguese 4-syllable words
• Portuguese terms with IPA pronunciation
• Portuguese lemmas
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• Portuguese nouns with irregular gender
• Portuguese multiword terms
• Portuguese masculine nouns
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• pt:Sports
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• Indonesian links with redundant wikilinks
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• Indonesian terms with redundant script codes