Early 19th century; earliest use found in John Leyden (1775–1811), linguist and poet. Partly from Indonesian ratu (now chiefly) queen, (also) king and Malay ratu king, queen (from Javanese ratu sovereign, king, queen; already in Old Javanese), and partly from Fijian ratu king, queen (from the same Malayo-Polynesian base as the Javanese word), both cognate with Malay datu ruler, datuk elder, title of respect.