MALAY

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does Malay mean? 

• MALAY (noun)
  The noun MALAY has 2 senses:

1. a member of a people inhabiting the northern Malay Peninsula and Malaysia and parts of the western Malay Archipelago

2. a western subfamily of Western Malayo-Polynesian languages

  Familiarity information: MALAY used as a noun is rare.

• MALAY (adjective)
  The adjective MALAY has 1 sense:

1. of or relating to or characteristic of the people or language of Malaysia and the northern Malay Peninsula and parts of the western Malay Archipelago

  Familiarity information: MALAY used as an adjective is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• MALAY (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A member of a people inhabiting the northern Malay Peninsula and Malaysia and parts of the western Malay Archipelago

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

Malay; Malayan

Hypernyms ("Malay" is a kind of...):

Asian; Asiatic (a native or inhabitant of Asia)

Holonyms ("Malay" is a member of...):

East India; East Indies; Malay Archipelago (a group of islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans between Asia and Australia)

Federation of Malaysia; Malaysia (a constitutional monarchy in southeastern Asia on Borneo and the Malay Peninsula; achieved independence from the United Kingdom in 1957)

Malay Peninsula (a peninsula in southeastern Asia occupied by parts of Malaysia and Thailand and Myanmar)

Derivation:

Malay (of or relating to or characteristic of the people or language of Malaysia and the northern Malay Peninsula and parts of the western Malay Archipelago)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A western subfamily of Western Malayo-Polynesian languages

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("Malay" is a kind of...):

Western Malayo-Polynesian (a western subfamily of Malayo-Polynesian languages)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "Malay"):

Bahasa Kebangsaan; Bahasa Malaysia; Bahasa Melayu; Malaysian (the Malay language spoken in Malaysia)

Bahasa; Bahasa Indonesia; Indonesian (the dialect of Malay used as the national language of the Republic of Indonesia or of Malaysia)

Derivation:

Malay (of or relating to or characteristic of the people or language of Malaysia and the northern Malay Peninsula and parts of the western Malay Archipelago)

• MALAY (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Of or relating to or characteristic of the people or language of Malaysia and the northern Malay Peninsula and parts of the western Malay Archipelago

Classified under:

Relational adjectives (pertainyms)

Synonyms:

Malay; Malayan

Context example:

Malayan syllable structure

Pertainym:

Malay (a member of a people inhabiting the northern Malay Peninsula and Malaysia and parts of the western Malay Archipelago)

Derivation:

Malay (a western subfamily of Western Malayo-Polynesian languages)

Malay (a member of a people inhabiting the northern Malay Peninsula and Malaysia and parts of the western Malay Archipelago)

 Context examples 

As I entered, a sallow Malay attendant had hurried up with a pipe for me and a supply of the drug, beckoning me to an empty berth.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I remember his conclusion, his black eyes flashing as he said, ‘Gentlemen, the South Sea Islander may do it, the Malay may do it, but take my word it’s beyond the white man.’

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)