1783 W. Marsden Hist. Sumatra 44 The cayen sarrong is not unlike a Scots highlander's plaid..being a piece of party colored cloth about six or eight feet long, and three or four wide, sowed together at the ends.

1848 H. Low Sarawak v. 143 Their dress..consists of the kain tapé, or cloth, which has been described as a wide sack open at both ends.

1910 C. W. Harrison Illustr. Guide Federated Malay States ii. 206 The great majority of sarongs are of cotton cloth known as kain plekat.

1919 P. Mijer Batiks i. 7 ‘Kains’ can be bought as cheaply as a dollar each.

1947 R. O. Winstedt Malays viii. 148 The obsolescent ‘lime’ pattern (kain limau)..reminds one of Indian designs.

1947 R. O. Winstedt Malays viii. 148 Patani, Pahang and Selangor produce cloths (kain telepok) gilded by a technique practised also in the Punjab.

1958 H. Forster Flowering Lotus ii. 25 Formal Javanese wear, for gentlemen as for ladies, was the kain batik. This was a simple length of cotton cloth, decorated with an elaborate pattern.

1963 J. Kirkup Tropic Temper iv. 41 There are many ways of folding the big, starched kerchief in a form of head-dress... On the East Coast it is called kain satangan.

1963 J. Kirkup Tropic Temper xv. 167 Round their waists they wore vivid red or purple kain songket which is a silver or gold-threaded sarong reaching down to the knees and tied on the left hip in an especially intricate knot.

1967 F. Mullally Prizewinner ii. 39 Indonesians in bosom-moulding kabajas and batik kains.

1971 Carry Singapore in your Pocket (Singapore Tourist Promotion Board) (ed. 3) 53 Kain songket, spun silk woven on cottage handlooms highly prized for its dazzling beauty of gleaming motifs in gold or silver.

1972 M. Sheppard Taman Indera 117 Kain lepas, unsewn sarong-length, often of gold thread silk.

1972 M. Sheppard Taman Indera 118 (caption) Part of a length of Kain Limar, from Kelantan. Fine silk cloth with a rose red warp and a mosaic pattern.

1972 Sunday Times (Kuala Lumpur) 25 June 7/4 The Queen was given a kain kebat—a dress resembling the sarong.