[f. Skr. kāvya poem.] The classic or poetic language of Java and the adjacent Bali, being the ancient language mixed with a great number of words of Sanskrit origin.
1817. Raffles, Java (1830), I. 411. In Báli the Kawi is still the language of religion and law; in Java it is only that of poetry and ancient fable.
1881. Encycl. Brit., XIII. 608/1. The language of the old inscriptions and manuscripts … is usually called Kawi.
