rindu / ريندو

"In the Iban language, rindu means love. When used in reference to a person, it can mean that they instil in you joy, pleasure and gratitude. You are glad they are alive and present. In the Malay language however, rindu means to yearn, to long for. Iban and Malay are close linguistic relatives. Some linguists posit that Borneo was the homeland of Malayic languages before their dispersal. If that theory is true, then the Ibans are the ones who stayed while the Malays are the ones who left Borneo. So while in Iban, rindu means love but in Malay, as the speakers left Borneo, the meaning of rindu changed to mean yearning—for family, homeland and the beloved they left behind." - Hafiz Rashid, 2025