English Explanatory Dictionary

Malaysia

English dictionary entry

Meanings

name
  1. A country in Southeast Asia. Capital: Kuala Lumpur.
  2. The Malay Archipelago.

Pronunciation

/məˈleɪ̯ʒə/ /məˈleɪ̯zi.ə/ En-us-Malaysia.ogg /məˈlɛjʒə/ /məˈlɛjzɪjə/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-Soundguys-Malaysia.wav /məˈleʒə/ /məˈleze.ə/ /-ɪ.ə/ /-iə/ /məˈleːʒə/ /məˈleːzi.ə/ /məlejsiə/ /məlejʃə/ /mɐˈleɪ̯.ʃɐ/

Word forms

Malaysia

Etymology

Etymology tree Malay Melayuder. English Malay Proto-Indo-European *-yós Proto-Italic *-ios Old Latin -ios Latin -ius Latin -iader. English -ia English Malaysia Affixation of Malay + -sia (alternative form of -ia), coined by British geographers in the 19th century as one of several terms used to refer to the Malay Archipelago, can be translated as "land of the Malays". A popular folk etymology holds that the country name was formed by adding ⟨-si-⟩ to Malaya, short for the former Federation of Malaya, to honour the inclusion of Singapore, Sarawak and North Borneo (Sabah) when the country was formed.

Related words

Countries of the world

Derived words

Bahasa Malaysia Malaysian West Malaysia
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