Malayan

English

Etymology 1

Etymology tree

English Malaya

Proto-Indo-European *-nós

Proto-Italic *-nos

Proto-Italic *-ānos

Latin -ānus

Old French -ainder.

Middle English -an

English -an

English Malayan

From Malaya + -an.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /məˈleɪən/
• Rhymes: -eɪən

Noun

Malayan (plural Malayans)

1. A person of whatever ethnicity from the former Malaya or Peninsular Malaysia
   • 1950 October, R. A. Marshall, “Kuala Lumpur, an important Malayan Railway Centre”, in Railway Magazine, page 706:

     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. Either of two lycaenid butterflies of the genus Megisba of Asia and Australasia.

Adjective

Malayan (comparative more Malayan, superlative most Malayan)

1. of, or relating to the former Malaya; Malay

Derived terms

• Malayan bear
• Malayan slit-faced bat
• Malayan tapir

Etymology 2

Etymology tree

Armenian Մալա (Mala)

Proto-Indo-European *-iyn̥

Proto-Indo-European *-iHn̥

Old Armenian -եան (-ean)

Armenian -յան (-yan)

Armenian Մալայան (Malayan)bor.

English Malayan

Borrowed from Armenian Մալայան (Malayan).

Proper noun

Malayan (plural Malayans)

1. A surname from Armenian.

Statistics

• According to data collected by Forebears in 2014, Malayan is the 542937^th most common surname in the United States, belonging to 23 individuals.

Further reading

• Forebears