# Malay

> English word · Adjective · IPA /məˈleɪ̯/ · frequency rank #17,407

## Definitions
1. Of or relating to the Malays, a people living in Brunei, on the eastern coast of Sumatra, the islands of Bangka and Belitung, the Riau archipelago and the coastal areas of Kalimantan in Indonesia, in most of Malaysia (states where they are politically dominant), in Singapore and in the southernmost provinces of Thailand.
2. Of or related to Malaysia, its people and/or culture.
3. In, of or otherwise relating to the languages spoken by Malays.

## Etymology
Etymology tree
Malay Melayuder.
English Malay
From Malay Melayu, 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, 麻里予兒, 巫來由 and 無來由. First attested in English as 1598.
Exonymous derivation from Malayalam മല (mala, “mountain”) has not been demonstrated.

## Easily confused with
- **may** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/malay-vs-may)
- **MLA** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/malay-vs-mla)
- **many** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/malay-vs-many)
- **male** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/malay-vs-male)
- **Mary** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/malay-vs-mary)
- **mall** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/malay-vs-mall)
- **mama** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/malay-vs-mama)
- **Maya** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/malay-vs-maya)
- **Mali** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/malay-vs-mali)
- **mata** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/malay-vs-mata)
- **mara** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/malay-vs-mara)
- **malt** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/malay-vs-malt)
- **mana** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/malay-vs-mana)
- **Mila** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/malay-vs-mila)
- **Muay** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/malay-vs-muay)
- **moly** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/malay-vs-moly)
- **masa** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/malay-vs-masa)
- **malo** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/malay-vs-malo)
- **mela** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/malay-vs-mela)
- **marry** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/malay-vs-marry)

## Common misspellings (7)
`amlay`, `maaly`, `malayy`, `mallay`, `malya`, `mlaay`, `mmalay`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/malay