Batik is a dyeing technique using wax resist. The term is also used to describe patterned textiles created with that technique. Batik is made by drawing or stamping wax on a cloth to prevent color absorption during the dyeing process. This creates a patterned negative when the wax is removed from the dyed cloth. Artisans may create intricate colored patterns with multiple cycles of wax application and dyeing. Patterns and motifs vary widely even within countries. Some pattern hold symbolic significance and are used only in certain occasions, while others were created to satisfy market demand and fashion trends.

Resist dyeing using wax has been practiced since ancient times and it is attested in several world culture such as Egypt, southern China (especially among hill tribes like the Miao, Bouyei and Gejia peoples), India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Nigeria, and Sri Lanka. The technique developed in Indonesia (especially in Java) is among the most sophisticated, although its antiquity is difficult to determine. It first became widely known outside of southeast Asia when it was described in the 1817 The History of Java, leading to significant collecting efforts and scholarly studies of the tradition and crafts. Javanese batik was subject to several innovations in the 19th to early 20th century, such as the use of stamp printing of wax to increase productivity. Many workshops and artisans are active today, creating a wide range of products and influencing other textile traditions and artists.

The English word batik is borrowed from Javanese bathik (Javanese script: ꦧꦛꦶꦏ꧀, Pegon: باتيق). English dictionaries tend to define batik as a general dyeing technique, meaning that cloths with similar methods of production but culturally unrelated to Javanese batik may be labelled as “batik” in English. Robert Blust traces the Javanese word as a reflex of Proto-Austronesian *batik and its doublet *beCik which means decorations and patterns in general. In Java, the word is only attested in sources post dating the Hindu-Buddhist period, from the 16th century onward. Outside of Java, the word first appears in a 1641 merchant ship’s bill of lading as batick. The term and technique came to wider public notice beyond Southeast Asia following Thomas Stamford Raffles‘s description of batik process in his 1817 book The History of Java. Colonial era Dutch sources record the word in various spellings, such as mbatik, mbatek, batik, and batek.