Ma·lay

(mə-lā′, mā′lā′)

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

2. The Austronesian language of the Malays. Also called Bahasa Melayu.

adj.

1. Of, relating to, or characteristic of the Malays or their language.

2. Of or relating to Malaysia, the Malay Peninsula, or the Malay Archipelago.

[Obsolete Dutch Malayo, from Malay Melayu.]

Ma·lay′an (mə-lā′ən) adj. & n.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Malay

(məˈleɪ)

1. (Peoples) a member of a people living chiefly in Malaysia and Indonesia who are descendants of Mongoloid immigrants

2. (Languages) the language of this people, belonging to the Malayo-Polynesian family

adj

3. (Peoples) of or relating to the Malays or their language

4. (Languages) of or relating to the Malays or their language

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

Ma•lay

(ˈmeɪ leɪ, məˈleɪ)
n.

1. a member of a people of Southeast Asia comprising the principal inhabitants of the Malay Peninsula, adjacent parts of E Sumatra, and the intervening islands and living in many coastal settlements on Borneo, Sumatra, and other islands of the Indonesian archipelago.

2. the Austronesian language of the Malays.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun	1.	Malay - a member of a people inhabiting the northern Malay Peninsula and Malaysia and parts of the western Malay Archipelago Malayan East India, East Indies, Malay Archipelago - a group of islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans between Asia and Australia Malaya, 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 Asian, Asiatic - a native or inhabitant of Asia
	2.	Malay - a western subfamily of Western Malayo-Polynesian languages Western Malayo-Polynesian - a western subfamily of Malayo-Polynesian languages 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
Adj.	1.	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 peoples"; "Malayan syllable structure" Malayan

Translations

Malajecmalajskýmalajština

μαλαϊκά

Malaja

malayo

malaiji

malais

maláj

bahasa Melayu

マレー語

Maleis

malayisk

malajski

малаец малайка малайский малайский язык

Malajecmalajskýmalajština

malajiska

tiếng Mã laitiếng Mã-lai

Malay

[məˈleɪ]

A. ADJ → malayo

B. N

1. (= person) → malayo/a m/f

2. (Ling) → malayo m

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

Malay

[məˈleɪ]

adj → malais(e)

(= person) → Malais(e) m/f

(= language) → malais m

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

Malay

adj → malaiisch; the Malay Archipelago → der Malaiische Archipel; the Malay Peninsula → die Malaiische Halbinsel, die Halbinsel Malakka

→ Malaie m, → Malaiin f

(Ling) → Malaiisch nt

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

Malay

[məˈleɪ]

1. adj → malese

2. n (person) → malese m/f; (language) → malese m

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

Here it was that the Ithaca came to anchor in a little harbor, while her crew under von Horn, and the Malay first mate, Bududreen, accompanied Professor Maxon in search of a suitable location for a permanent camp.

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Hare, a worthless character, brought from the East Indian archipelago a number of Malay slaves, which now including children, amount to more than a hundred.

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My next effort in short-story writing was a departure--I mean a departure from the Malay Archipelago.

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A crooked smile, like a Malay crease, writhed across the face of one of the women.

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"As soon as I've got through my hospital appointments I shall get a ship; I want to go to the East--the Malay Archipelago, Siam, China, and all that sort of thing--and then I shall take odd jobs.

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Wallace, who is now studying the natural history of the Malay archipelago, has arrived at almost exactly the same general conclusions that I have on the origin of species.

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"I say!" he exclaimed on the landing, while the Malay crew of the steam-launch standing by looked stonily at the man for whom they were going to be kept on duty so late, away from their gambling, from their girls, or their pure domestic joys.

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Regent street is not unknown to Lascars and Malays; and at Bombay, in the Apollo Green, live Yankees have often scared the natives.

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Time out of mind the piratical proas of the Malays, lurking among the low shaded coves and islets of Sumatra, have sallied out upon the vessels sailing through the straits, fiercely demanding tribute at the point of their spears.

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We returned through the forest, and completed our collection by a raid upon the cabbage-palms, that we gathered from the tops of the trees, little beans that I recognised as the "abrou" of the Malays, and yams of a superior quality.

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But I was much better satisfied a few days after, when I came to know what sort of fellows they were; for, in short, their history was, that this man they called captain was the gunner only, not the commander; that they had been a trading voyage, in which they had been attacked on shore by some of the Malays, who had killed the captain and three of his men; and that after the captain was killed, these men, eleven in number, having resolved to run away with the ship, brought her to Bengal, leaving the mate and five men more on shore.

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