Borrowed fromPortugueseamouco, fromMalayamuk(“to go on akillingspree”). The term first appeared in English around the 16th century, associated with the people of Malaysia and Java, first described in the 1516 textThe Book of Duarte Barbosa, which was translated to English by Henry E. J. Stanley.
One whoruns amok; in Malay and Moro/Philippine culture, one who attempts to kill many others, especially expecting that they will be killed themselves.
One morning, as we were sitting at breakfast, Mr. Carter's servant informed us that there was an "Amok" in the village--in other words, that a man was "running a muck."
1849, “Malay Amoks Referred to Mahomedanism”, inJ. R. Logan, editor,The Journal of the Indian Archipelago and Eastern Asia, volume III, Singapore:[…]G. M. Frederick, “Sentence of death upon a Malay convicted of running amok”, page461:
On the morning of theamok this person met him, and asked him to work at his boat “He replied that he could not, he was very much afflicted.”[…]Theamok took place on the 8th, the trial on the 13th, and the execution on the 15th July,—all within eight days.
Among the ancients these would have been looked upon as heroes or demigods who sacrificed themselves for their country. Here it is simply said--they made "amok."
1874,Translations from the Hakayit Abdulla (bin Abdulkadar), Mūnshi, London: Henry S. King & Co.,[…], pages133, 233 and 234:
The late assassinations of Lord Mayo and Chief Justice Norman, though not committed by Malays, would be called “amoks.”[…]In the case of the Lieutenant-Governor of Singapore, his being “amoked” appears to have been a mere chance collision, the intended victim having been another native by whom the “amoker” had been imprisoned. The real cause of the “amok” was the imprisonment—an insult to a descendant of the Prophet, and how artfully was the intended revenge concealed from the jailor![…]Now, I have perceived since people have been hung several times in Malacca and Singapore,amoks, murders, and piracies have lessened,—just in the same manner as when you see heavy squalls, thunder and lightning, that these being in truth dangerous and frightful, but they clear the atmosphere, carrying off all bad vapours, from which proceed sicknesses: thus come good health and tranquility to mankind.[…]The population of the tropics are akin to their climate,—generally calm, listless, and dreamy,—but theseamoks intermittently, like Sumatra squalls, burst forth and bear down all before them. Yet, like the squall, the frenzied amoker has but a short career,[…]
For the convenience of this paper I shall call the man who runs Amok an “Amoker,” and the crime “Amoking.” /[…]I believe Penang has claimed that the Chief Justice’s (Sir Wm. Norris) sentence, which reads like one of those of the middle ages, and which I will give in detail later on, passed upon an Amoker, and carried out within eight days of theAmok in 1846, was the means of stamping outAmok entirely for years, but I can obtain no reliable information in proof of this. I intend trying to give a brief sketch ofAmok and its causes, some notes on recent cases, and to point out a possible field in which its pathology may eventually be determined.
1849, James Low, “A Translation of the Keddah Annals Termed Marong Mahawangsa; and Sketches of the Ancient Condition of Some of the Nations of Eastern Asia, with References to the Malays”, inJ. R. Logan, editor,The Journal of the Indian Archipelago and Eastern Asia, volume III, Singapore:[…]G. M. Frederick, chapter VIII, page265:
The Rájá not listening to this language, again tried to kill Gumpar with a spear, and all his people assisted in thrusting and cutting at him; there was a great hubbub, and people outside of the fort were astonished to learn that there wasamoking within it.
After being there about ten minutes he revived, and soon entered into conversation with us; but he looked fiendish, as if something was preying upon his mind. This we found to be the case, as some gay Lothario had lately robbed him of his intended bride. Such causes in most instances lead to the Malayamoking (running a-muck).[…]I have never yet known a case of a Dyakamoking, yet it was of frequent occurrence among Malays in former times.
Orders were immediately given to shut and fasten the gates of our enclosure; but hearing nothing for some time, we went out, and found there had been a false alarm, owing to a slave having run away, declaring he would "amok," because his master wanted to sell him.
1874,Translations from the Hakayit Abdulla (bin Abdulkadar), Mūnshi, London: Henry S. King & Co.,[…], pages133 and 138:
One of the Governors of Bencoolen was thus “amoked” in his own sitting-room, where he met instant death, owing to his having by mistake struck the son of a Malay chief with his whip when taking his evening airing in a buggy. A Dutch admiral was “amoked” on his own quarter-deck when receiving a Javanese chief and his family on board, he having saluted (as was the custom of his country at that time) the chief’s daughter. He died on the spot for the supposed insult. In the case of the Lieutenant-Governor of Singapore, his being “amoked” appears to have been a mere chance collision, the intended victim having been another native by whom the “amoker” had been imprisoned.[…]It was about two Fridays after this that the Sultan and Mr. Raffles met at the house of Colonel Farquhar, for on that day there was a trial of an ‘amoker,’ who had ‘amoked’ at Campong Glam; and when this was over, Mr. Raffles asked the Sultan about their former discourse.
For the convenience of this paper I shall call the man who runs Amok an “Amoker,” and the crime “Amoking.” / It is necessary to state at once that I do not in any way intend to discuss the point as to whether the judicial execution of menAmoking is right or wrong, or as to whether execution of all Amokers would tend to lessen the frequency of the crime.
1896,Henry Ling Roth, “Character Notes and Sketches”, inThe Natives of Sarawak and British North Borneo.[…], volume I, New York, N.Y.: Truslove & Comba,[…], “Amoking”,page95:
“I have never yet known a case of a Dyakamoking.” So wrote Sir Charles Brooke (i. 55) thirty years ago. Ten years later Mr. G. Gueritz, Resident at Semanggang, wrote as follows: “I am exceedingly sorry to have to report a very serious case ofamoking at Lingga. A Kalaka man named S’Apong on returning to his house the other evening, from fishing, drew his parang and cut down his wife, father-in-law and a child; the woman is desperately wounded.[…]” (S. G., No. 69.)
All the people proclaimed that he must be killed at once as they were afraid of hisamuking amongst the people.
1971, William Shaw, “Amuk”, inFederation Museums Journal, pages3, 8, and 12:
When, for example, men made a desperate charge upon an enemy position in time of war, they were said to haveamuked. An elephant, a buffalo, or even a fighting cock, couldamuk in the sense that it temporarily went berserk (Plate. 1.). Yet when the cry of “Amuk!” “Amuk!” was raised by Malay warriors or pirates, it usually signified their intention to carry on a fight to the death in which no quarter was to be asked or given.[…]The most famous of the allegedly invulnerableJuramentados wasPanglima Hassan, who held a large part of the Sulu population in fear of his magic and hypnotic power until 1903 when, after a series of near miraculous escapes, heamuked once too often and was killed by American soldiers on the island of Jolo.[…]The Bugis whoamuked was a quiet-living man who, until that fateful day, had shown no obvious signs of madness.
1993,Stephen Peace, quotee,Committee Overview: Industry and Consumer Perspective, California State Assembly Committee on Utilities and Commerce, page109:
This is what happens when you give constitutional authority to a bureaucracy. They don't have to answer to us. They humor us occasionally by appearing before our Committee, but we have no authority over the PUC because they are independently out there by virtue of constitutional authority. Particularly when you have the PUC operating in a vacuum in terms of policy leadership, because there are only 2 PUC commissioners. Which means, of course, they can't talk to each other because it's a violation of whatever. So, you have bureaucracy run amok, and it's been "amoking" for seven years, and none of us has had the guts to say anything about it.
Stanley, Henry E. J. ed. and trans. (1866),A description of the coasts of East Africa and Malabar by Duarte Barbosa[1], London: Hakluyt Society
Dames, Mansel Longworth (1918–1921),The book of Duarte Barbosa : an account of the countries bordering on the Indian Ocean and their inhabitants (2 Volumes), London: Hakluyt Society,→OCLC
“amok”, inKielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish][2] (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki:Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland),2004–, retrieved2 July 2023
Thisetymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at theEtymology scriptorium. Particularly: “Can someone find the Middle Iranian word for this? I haven't been able to find the word given in my source anywhere online.”
Adams, Douglas Q. (2013), “amok”, inA Dictionary of Tocharian B: Revised and Greatly Enlarged (Leiden Studies in Indo-European;10), Amsterdam, New York: Rodopi,→ISBN,page21
