Malabar
/ˈmæləˌbɑɹ/noun
Malabar is spelled M-A-L-A-B-A-R: 7 letters. It appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 45,363rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, Malabar means “A native of Malabar” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of Malabar is Malabars.
How many letters and syllables are in Malabar?
| Letters | 7: M-A-L-A-B-A-R |
|---|---|
| In writing | about once in every 2 million words; the 45,363rd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is Malabar?
Malabar appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 45,363rd most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce Malabar?
- UK /ˈmæləˌbɑː/
- US /ˈmæləˌbɑɹ/
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-Malabar.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of Malabar
- Malabars plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does Malabar mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A native of Malabar.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Where does Malabar come from?
Borrowed from Arabic مَلَبَار (malabār), first attested in the writings of Iranian scholar Al-Biruni (c. 11th century). The second element is either from Arabic بَرّ (barr, “land, ground”) or from Classical Persian بَار (bār, “coast”), and the first element is the same as the Byzantine Greek toponym Μαλέ (Malé) (itself in turn derived from Malayalam മല (mala)), 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”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).