English Explanatory Dictionary

Malabar

English dictionary entry

Meanings

name
  1. The region of coastal southwestern India, principally the modern state of Kerala.
  2. The Tamil language.
  3. A district of British India.
  4. A suburb of Sydney in the Randwick council area, New South Wales, Australia.
noun
  1. A native of Malabar.

Pronunciation

/ˈmæləˌbɑː/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-Malabar.wav /ˈmæləˌbɑɹ/

Word forms

Malabar Malavar Malibar Melibar Mahabar Minibar Malabars

Etymology

From Arabic مَلَبَار (malabār), first attested in the writings of Iranian scholar Al-Biruni (c. 11th century). The second element is Arabic بَرّ (barr, “land, ground”) or Persian بار (bâr, “coast”), and the first element is the same as the Byzantine Greek toponym Μαλέ (Malé), mentioned by traveller Cosmas Indicopleustes in the 5th century as a source of pepper exports, concording with modern-day pepper cultivation on the Malabar coast. Mala ~ Male is, in turn, borrowed from Malayalam മല (mala, “mountain”). This is also the source of the name of the language: മലയാളം (malayāḷaṁ, literally “mountain place”). Compare Zanzibar for a possibly similar word formation.

Synonyms

Malabar Coast

Derived words

Malabar almond Malabar barbet Malabar chestnut Malabar Coast Malabar creeper Malabar flying frog Malabar gourd Malabar grey hornbill Malabari Malabar itch Malabar lark Malabar marking-nut tree Malabar nightshade Malabar nut Malabar pied hornbill Malabar rat Malabar spinach Malabar starling Malabar trogon Malabar whistling thrush Malabar woodshrike
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