The earliest known mention of ‘silat’ in "Misa Melayu", written sometimes between 1720 and 1786, was rather generic in nature and not specifically referring to the Malay martial arts. It was used as a generic term in describing the movements of kuntao as performed by Chinese folks. In this regards, the word 'silat' is thought to originate from the composite of two words 'si' and 'elat'. 'Si' is a Malay article used with adjectives to describe people, and normally found in names and nicknames. While 'elat' is a verb means 'to trick', 'to confuse' or 'to deceive'. The derivative transitive verb 'menyilat' or 'menyilap' carries the meaning of an action to evade, to trick or to take an assault, together with a counterattack. This implies that the term 'silat' is a generic term in origin, referring to any forms of martial arts that involve such movements, before it began to specifically refers to Malay martial arts. In the 19th century literary texts, reference to 'silat' as a specific martial art of Malay people began to appear, for example in "Hikayat Pahang", "Hikayat Awang Sulung Merah Muda", Hikayat Malim Deman and many others.