Melayu

See also: melayu

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Malay Melayu.

Noun

Melayu pl (plural only)

1. The Malay ethnic group.

Anagrams

• mauley

Indonesian

Alternative forms

• Melajoe (pre-1967)

Etymology

From Malay Melayu.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [məˈlaju]
• Hyphenation: mê‧la‧yu

Proper noun

Melayu

1. Malay (ethnic group)
2. Malay (language)

Adjective

Melayu

1. Malay (pertaining to ethnic group or language)

Derived terms

• melayukan (“(transitive) to make something become Malay”)
• memelayukan (form of melayukan)
• pemelayuan (“malayisation”)

• bahasa Melayu (“Malay language”)
• orang Melayu (“Malay people”)

Malay

Etymology

From Malayu, a kingdom on Sumatra's eastern coast (today's Jambi), mentioned by the Chinese Monk Yijing as 末羅瑜國 and during the Yuan (1271-1368) and Ming (1368-1644) dynasties as 木剌由 (Bok-la-yu or Mok-la-yu), 麻里予兒 (Ma-li-yu-er), 巫來由 (Wu-lai-yu) and 無來由 (Wu-lai-yu). The oldest known inscriptions in the Malay language were found at Kedukan Bukit and Talang Tuo, both in the vicinity of Palembang in southern Sumatra, and at Kota Kapur on Bangka island west of Sumatra. They are respectively dated 673, 684 and 686. Possibly cognate with Old Javanese malayū (“to run, to run away, to flee”), referring to the Musi river at Palembang.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /məlaju/
• Rhymes: -ju, -u
• Hyphenation: Me‧la‧yu

Proper noun

Melayu (Jawi spelling ملايو)

1. Malay (ethnic group, people, and language)

   Synonym: Jawi

   orang Melayu ― Malay people

   bahasa Melayu ― the Malay language

Affixations

• kemelayuan (Malayness)
• melayukan (to translate into Malay; to Malayize)
• pemelayuan (act of translating into Malay; Malayization)

 

Compounds

• bahasa Melayu
• masuk Melayu
• orang Melayu

 

Further reading

• “Melayu” in Pusat Rujukan Persuratan Melayu | Malay Literary Reference Centre, Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, 2017.