romusha

English

Alternative forms

• rōmusha

Etymology

From Japanese 労務者 (rōmusha, “laborer; forced laborer”). Compare Indonesian romusa.

Noun

romusha (plural romusha or romushas)

1. A forced laborer, especially those made to work in the Dutch East Indies under Japanese occupation during the Second World War.
   • 2017, Lizzie Oliver, “‘Like Pebbles Stuck in a Sieve’: Reading Romushas in the Second-Generation Photography of Southeast Asian Captivity”, in Journal of War & Culture Studies, volume 10, →DOI, page 272:

     Javanese workers were known as romushas (the Japanese translation for the colonial term ‘coolie’) and put to work on Java, its neighbouring islands and across Southeast Asia.

   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:romusha.

Dutch

Alternative forms

• romoesja (uncommon)

Etymology

Borrowed from Japanese 労務者.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌroːˈmu.ʃaː/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: ro‧mu‧sha

Noun

romusha m (plural romusha's or romusha)

1. (historical) A romusha; an Indonesian who had to perform penal servitude for the Japanese during the Second World War.

Indonesian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ro.mu.ʃa/
• Hyphenation: ro‧mus‧ha

Noun

romusha

1. Nonstandard spelling of romusa.