What does "malayan" mean?

A person of whatever ethnicity from the former Malaya or Peninsular Malaysia

What is a synonym for "malayan"?

Common synonyms include: malay, black, black man, boy, caucasian, colored person.

Malayan

//məˈleɪən// adj, name, noun

adj, name, noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1
A person of whatever ethnicity from the former Malaya or Peninsular Malaysia
"The third class is intended to provide cheap travel for the poorest Malayans; wooden seats are the rule, the compensation lying in the fare of four cents a mile (about 1d)."
2
a member of a people inhabiting the northern Malay Peninsula and Malaysia and parts of the western Malay Archipelago wordnet
3
Either of two lycaenid butterflies of the genus Megisba of Asia and Australasia.

Adjective

1
of, or relating to the former Malaya; Malay

Adjective

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 wordnet
2
of or relating to or characteristic of Malaysia wordnet

Proper Noun

1
A surname from Armenian.

Synonyms

All synonyms

malay black black man boy caucasian colored person

Example

More examples

"The third class is intended to provide cheap travel for the poorest Malayans; wooden seats are the rule, the compensation lying in the fare of four cents a mile (about 1d)."

Etymology

Etymology 1

From Malaya + -an.

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Armenian Մալայան (Malayan).

More for "malayan"

Synonyms Sentences Pronunciation Translate

Next best steps

Find stronger synonyms See usage examples Check pronunciation Browse writing guides

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.