Malayn.adj.
/məˈleɪ/, U.S. /ˈmeɪˌleɪ/, /məˈleɪ/ A. n.† 3. = Malay fowl n. at Compounds 1. Obsolete.
1.
a. A member of a people chiefly inhabiting Malaysia, Brunei, and parts of Indonesia, and characteristically speaking the Malay language.
ΘΚΠ
the world > people > ethnicities > division of mankind by physical characteristics > Malay > [noun]
Malay1598
Malayan1598
1598 W. Phillip tr. J. H. van Linschoten Disc. Voy. E. & W. Indies i. xviii. 31/2 The Malayos [Du. De Malayos] of Malacca say, that the first originall or beginning of Malacca hath bene but of late yeares.
1599 R. Fitch in R. Hakluyt Princ. Navigations (new ed.) II. ii. 262 And the countrey [sc. Malacca]..belongeth to the Malayos, which is a kinde of proud people.
1606 E. Scott Exact Disc. East Indians sig. E4 Some of those Mullays beeing hyred by some Portugals, had secretly as hee passed by that roome, tossed in a Ball of fire.
1613 S. Purchas Pilgrimage v. ii. 389 The Malayos, or Countrey people.
1727 A. Hamilton New Acct. E. Indies II. xliii. 65 The Natives of the Island are, as most other Malayas, very treacherous.
1783 W. Marsden Hist. Sumatra 283 The word ‘Malay’, all over the east, no longer denotes an inhabitant of Malayo, strictly, nor one claiming his descent from thence; but a person whose language and religion are the same with theirs.
1783 W. Marsden Hist. Sumatra 296 The Battas are..rather below the stature of the Malay, and their complexions are fairer.
1812 W. Marsden Dict. Malayan Lang. 330/1 Tānah malāyū, the country of the Malays.
1840 Penny Cycl. XVIII. 328/1 In person the Malays are short, squat, and robust.
1851 H. Melville Moby-Dick lxxxvii. 423 The..proas of the Malays, lurking among the..islets of Sumatra, have sallied out upon the vessels sailing through the straits.
1883 I. L. Bird Golden Chersonese 17 The Malays proper inhabit the Malay Peninsula, and almost all the coast regions of Borneo and Sumatra.
1931 M. Yeo St. Francis Xavier xv. 186 [It] needed elaboration for educated Malays and Mohammedans.
1976 Ld. Home Way Wind Blows vii. 115 In Malaysia..the easy-going..Malay was always afraid that the..Chinese would..oust him from the best jobs.
1992 U.S. News & World Rep. 21 Dec. 72/1 Bumiputra, as native Malays are known, even pay less for housing loans.
b. In South Africa: a member of the Muslim community of Cape Town and adjoining districts (chiefly descendants of immigrants and slaves from Malaysia, etc.). Frequently more fully Cape Malay.
ΘΚΠ
the world > people > nations > native or inhabitant of Africa > native or inhabitant of Southern Africa > [noun] > countries or regions
Angolan1600
Angola1653
Malay1765
South African1806
Ngwaketsea1832
bushboya1834
Kapenaar1834
Transkeian1847
bosch-man1849
Natalian1850
burgher1879
Transvaaler1887
veldman1895
Rhodesian1897
Vaalpens1899
backvelder1911
plattelander1934
southwester1960
Zimbabwean1961
Zambian1963
Botswanian1966
Botswanan1967
Namibian1968
Ciskeian1973
Sowetan1974
1765 Mrs. Kindersley Lett. (1777) 65 Some of them are called Malays or Malaynese, brought from the country of Malacca, and the islands to the eastward of India, subject to the Dutch company.
1785 G. Forster tr. A. Sparrman Voy. Cape Good Hope I. 12 The burial grounds of the Chinese and free Malays that live at the Cape.
1803 R. Semple Walks & Sketches Cape Good Hope iii. 40 The penetrative genius of the Malay.
1812 A. Plumptre tr. H. Lichtenstein Trav. S. Afr. I. i. ii. 28 This practice receives great encouragement from the natural inclination that the slaves, particularly the Malays, have to music.
1844 J. Backhouse Narr. Visit Mauritius & S. Afr. v. 82 The religion of the False Prophet was introduced into the Colony by the importation of Malacca slaves, by the Dutch. Hence the terms Malay and Mahomedan became synonymous in the Colony.
1944 I. D. Du Plessis Cape Malays i. 1 Strictly speaking ‘Malay’ stands for that section of the local Muslim community in which the descendants of Malay slaves and political exiles are to be found.
1972 Standard Encycl. Southern Afr. VII. 145/2 Coming from Java and the neighbouring Indonesian islands, the Cape Malays belong essentially to the Javanese and Balinese section of the Malay race.
1991 K. Maguire Politics in S. Afr. iv. 75 This classification also includes the descendants of the Muslim Malays.
2. The Austronesian language of the Malays of Malaysia, etc., the official language of the Federation of Malaysia. See also Bahasa n.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > languages of the world > Austric > [noun] > Austronesian > Sundic > Malay
Malay1598
Malayan1619
Malays1772
1598 W. Phillip tr. J. H. van Linschoten Disc. Voy. E. & W. Indies i. xviii. 31/2 And this speech called Melayo [Du. Malayo] is reported to be the most courteous and seemelie speech of all the Orient.
1701 T. Bowrey Dict. Eng. & Malayo Pref. sig. A3 The true Malayo spoken in the Malayo country.
1770 J. Banks Jrnl. (1962) II. 220 They speak indeed a corrupt dialect of the Portugese language, but much oftener Malay.
1820 J. Keats Isabella in Lamia & Other Poems 57 Great wits in Spanish, Tuscan, and Malay.
1883 I. L. Bird Golden Chersonese Introd. 19 Malay is the lingua franca of the Straits Settlements.
1883 Encycl. Brit. XV. 325/1 Malay is essentially..a dissyllabic language.
1931 M. Yeo St. Francis Xavier xiii. 163 The immense trouble he [sc. Xavier] had had in Malacca in translating prayers, Creed and Commandments into Malay, the lingua franca of the Far East.
1975 K. Katzner Langs. of World ii. 226 Malay is spoken principally in Malaysia and, to a lesser extent, in..Thailand and Singapore. Before 1945 its speakers extended through much of the Indonesian archipelago, but with the establishment of the Republic of Indonesia the Malay of that country was designated Indonesian.
1991 Lang. in Society 20 481 The chapter on other lexifier languages covers such varieties as Juba Arabic,..Bazaar Malay,..and Pidgin Basque.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > order Galliformes (fowls) > family Phasianidae (pheasants, etc.) > genus Gallus (domestic fowl) > [noun] > types of > Malayan
Chittagong1816
Malay1816
Malay fowl1838
pheasant Malay1850
Malayan fowl1885
1816 ‘B. Moubray’ Poultry (ed. 2) 24 The Chittagong or Malay..is, as a contrast to the Bantam, probably the largest of the Gallinaceous tribe.
1867 W. B. Tegetmeier Poultry Bk. 76 The plumage in Malays is short and close.
1873 L. Wright Illustr. Bk. Poultry 277 There never was a Malay with red eyes; they are invariably pearl, yellow, or daw.
1890 Cent. Mag. May 59/1 (note) The Malay differs from the Indian Game..in little but the beautiful penciling of the features of the Indian hen.
B. adj.
1. Of, relating to, or characteristic of the Malays or their country.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > named regions of earth > Malaysia and Indonesia > [adjective] > Malaysia
Malayan1598
Malay1608
Malaysianc1615
Malayic1723
the world > people > nations > native or inhabitant of Asia > native or inhabitant of Malaysia > [adjective]
Malayan1598
Malay1608
bumiputra1972
1608 J. Saris Let. 4 Dec. in W. Foster Lett. received by E. India Co. (1896) I. 22 It will also vend of our Java Poulinges, coarse goobares and mallaio pintados.
1701 T. Bowrey Dict. Eng. & Malayo Pref. sig. A3 The Malayo language spoken in the islands.
1779 T. Forrest Voy. New Guinea 8 They knew not a word of the Malay tongue.
1789 G. Keate Pellew Isl. 143 Snatched Soogle's Malay Creese, and stabbed him.
1808 Asiatick Researches 10 207 The Tagala..language is among the Philippines, what the Malayu is in the Malay islands.
1840 Penny Cycl. XVIII. 328/1 Words..derived from the Malay language.
1850 R. Gordon-Cumming Five Years Hunter's Life S. Afr. I. vii. 140 Handkerchiefs..of a striped red and green colour, usually termed Malay handkerchiefs.
1883 I. L. Bird Golden Chersonese Introd. 23 Cock-fighting..is the popular Malay sport.
1932 Rock (Hong Kong) June 177/2 A series of Malay villages.
1969 J. M. Gullick Malaysia ii. 54 The Malay States until 1874 were governed or misgoverned under a system which was Malay custom.
1991 A. C. Milner in Past & Present Aug. 111 All over Malaysia today there are Malay communities in which certain people will not pray or even eat with others.
2. Of, relating to, or characteristic of the Cape Malays.
ΘΚΠ
the world > people > nations > native or inhabitant of Africa > native or inhabitant of Southern Africa > [adjective] > countries or regions
Angolan1625
South African1787
Malay1811
Ciskeian1848
Zambian1959
Zimbabwean1961
Namibian1968
Sowetan1977
1811 Afr. Court Cal. Abdol Malik van Batavia, Malay Doctor, 19, Dorp Str.
1881 Cape Monthly Mag. Mar. 192 A Malay hat.
1953 I. D. Du Plessis & C. A. Lückhoff Malay Quarter 9 A Malay wedding.
1974 S. Afr. Panorama Mar. 7 The oldest of its two gables, dated 1800, is..reputedly the work of a Malay craftsman.
1983 Flying Springbok (S. Afr.) Dec. 19 Fifty Malay tailors work day and night to complete the costumes.
Compounds
C1. In the names of plants, animals, etc., native to or originating from the Malay peninsula.
Malay apple n. a tree of the family Myrtaceae, Syzygium malaccense ( Eugenia malaccensis), with an edible fruit; the fruit of this tree.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > particular fruit-tree or -plant > [noun] > tropical or exotic fruit-tree or -plant > rose-apple tree
Malabar plum1807
rose apple1809
Malay apple1822
jambu1851
Malacca apple1871
pomerac1919
1822 J. C. Loudon Encycl. Gardening iii. i. 882 The Malay apple is another species of Eugenia (E. Malaccensis)... The fruit..is very sweet-smelling, like the rose, agreeable to the taste, smell, and sight, and esteemed wholesome.
1836 J. C. Loudon Encycl. Plants (rev. ed.) 416 Eugenia malaccensis. Malay Apple-tr.
1890 Cent. Dict. at Malay Malay apple, a small tree, Eugenia Malaccensis, or its fruit... The fruit is of a good size, with the form of a quince, juicy, delicate-flavored, and of an apple-like scent.
1931 M. Grieve Mod. Herbal I. 47/2 Malay apple is the fruit of Eugenia malaccensis.
1980 J. A. Samson Trop. Fruits xi. 306 The fruit of Syzygium malaccense, pomerac or Malay apple, resembles a pear rather than an apple.
Malay camphor n. = Borneo camphor n. at Borneo n. 1.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > extracted or refined oil > [noun] > camphor
camphor1313
Sumatra camphora1760
Borneo camphora1811
Malay camphor1837
turpentine camphor1857
tub-camphor1880
Japan camphor1882
Japanese camphor-
1837 Penny Cycl. IX. 163/1 It is commonly called Malay Camphor, or Camphor of Barus, from the port of Sumatra whence it is mostly shipped.
1889 G. S. Boulger Uses of Plants iv. 153 Of camphor there are, commercially speaking, three kinds: (i.) Common or Laurel Camphor, from Camphora officinarum... (ii.) Borneo or Malay Camphor..from species of Dryobalanops. (iii.) Ngai Camphor, unknown in Europe.
Malay cat n. now rare a breed of cat from South-East Asia having a kink in the tail.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > family Felidae (feline) > felis domesticus (cat) > [noun] > miscellaneous breeds of
blue cat1771
chartreuse1838
Maltese1857
Maltese cat1857
Abyssinian1871
Abyssinian cat1871
Russian Blue1872
Malay cat1881
chinchilla1889
longhair1889
Russian longhair1889
Maine cat1900
short-hair1903
British Shorthair1923
British Blue1929
Burmese cat1939
rex1958
rag doll1970
Maine Coon1971
1881 St. G. Mivart Cat i. 7 In Pegu, Siam, and Burmah, there is a race of cats—the Malay Cat—with tails only of half the ordinary length.
1909 Cent. Dict. Suppl. at Cat Malay cat, a variety of cat from the Malay Peninsula having a peculiar bend, or kink in the tail.
Malay fowl n. a breed of large long-legged domestic fowl originating from the Malay peninsula; a bird of this breed.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > order Galliformes (fowls) > family Phasianidae (pheasants, etc.) > genus Gallus (domestic fowl) > [noun] > types of > Malayan
Chittagong1816
Malay1816
Malay fowl1838
pheasant Malay1850
Malayan fowl1885
1826 Lancet 16 Sept. 794/1 To India we are indebted for the peacock and the best of our domestic fowls, namely, the Malay species.]
1838 W. B. Dickson Poultry 16 The Malay, or Chittagong Fowl..is similar in size to the Spanish, differing in the colour not being so uniformly black, but brown, streaked with yellow.
1850 D. J. Browne Amer. Poultry Yard 37 (heading) The Kulm, or Great Malay Fowl.
1922 Sci. Monthly Jan. 17 The unknown ancestor of the Aseel or Malay Fowl..is also in part responsible for the present divergent development exhibited by the many different breeds and races.
Malay porcupine n. rare the long-tailed porcupine, Trichys fasciculata, of Borneo, Sumatra, and the Malay peninsula, having a scaly tail with a tuft of bristles at the tip; cf. Malayan porcupine n. at Malayan n. and adj. Compounds.
ΚΠ
1890 Cent. Dict. at Malay Malay porcupine, a brush-tailed porcupine, Atherura fasciculata.
Malay tapir n. = Malayan tapir n. at Malayan n. and adj. Compounds.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > order Perissodactyla (odd-toed ungulates) > [noun] > with hoof in more than two parts > family Tapiridae (tapir) > tapirus indicus (Malayan tapir)
Malay tapir1822
seladang1822
Malayan tapir1824
1822 T. S. Raffles in Trans. Linn. Soc. 13 270 The Malay Tapir resembles in form the American.
1991 C. Willock Kingdoms of East viii. 166/2 (caption) The Malay tapir's foreparts and limbs are usually black and the body white.
C2.
Malay peninsula n. (also Malay Peninsula) the southernmost peninsula of Asia, including (in the south) the continental part of Malaysia and (in the north) part of Thailand.
ΚΠ
1838 Biblical Repertory Apr. 221 The passage round the Malay peninsula forms..a communication with the Oriental Islands, with the whole east of Asia..and with the whole western coast of the American continent.
1897 Overland Monthly Aug. 192/2 He was consul general to Singapore, Malay peninsula.
1952 P. W. Richards Trop. Rain Forest xi. 259 Small societies on steep slopes in the hill rain forests of the Malay Peninsula.
1992 J. Silverberg & J. P. Gray Aggression & Peacefulness 223 Until this century, mangrove swamps along the western Malay peninsula were a hinterland refuge for Seman foragers and ‘Btsisi’ fisher-horticulturalists.
C3. South African. (In sense B. 2.)
Malay cart n. a small, two-wheeled cart formerly much used in the Cape Malay community.
ΚΠ
1861 L. Duff-Gordon Let. 10 Dec. in Lett. from Cape 1861–2 (1925) ii. 49 A light Malay cart (a capital vehicle with two wheels) and four horses.
1910 Rand Daily Mail (Johannesburg) Nov. 8 Malay carts, bearing hideous fish-horn blowers.
Malay magic n. now historical occult arts, esp. involving poltergeists and psychokinesis, supposedly practised by Malay people (also by the Cape Malay people of the Cape peninsula, South Africa).
ΚΠ
1900 W. W. Skeat (title) Malay magic.
1970 Cape Times 6 June (Weekend Mag.) 2 The traditional old Cape Malay khalifa is mainly responsible for the perpetuation of the popular Malay magic myth.
1998 Asian Folklore Stud. 57 218 When Semai talk about ilmu (Gop), they mean Malay magic in general, jampi (jnampi') spells in particular.
Malay trickery n. = Malay tricks n.
ΚΠ
1970 Cape Times 6 June (Weekend Mag.) 2 ‘Malay trickery’ and ‘goëlery’ are now widely accepted and firmly believed terms to many of the Cape's whites and non-whites.
Malay tricks n. = Malay magic n.
ΚΠ
1908 Rep. on Patient 7 Apr. (Univ. Cape Town Libraries: Spec. Coll.) (Valkenberg Hosp. Coll.: BC1403) That certain persons living at Somerset West have performed Malay tricks on him & others, & nine deaths have occurred as a result of these tricks.
1944 I. D. Du Plessis Cape Malays 76 The average Malay, while sometimes believing in and fearing ‘Malay tricks’, is as ignorant of these practices as the European;..while tales of ‘goelery’ abound, the exact methods adopted remain a closely guarded secret, known only to the initiated few.
1968 Brit. Jrnl. Psychiatry 114 1580/1 ‘Malay tricks’, so-called because they are believed to be due to the intercession and occult powers of certain Cape Malays.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2000; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
<
n.adj.1598