# Malayan

> English word · Noun · IPA /məˈleɪən/ · frequency rank #47,177

## Definitions
1. A person of whatever ethnicity from the former Malaya or Peninsular Malaysia
2. Either of two lycaenid butterflies of the genus Megisba of Asia and Australasia.

## Etymology
From Malaya + -an.

## Easily confused with
- **Mayan** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/malayan-vs-mayan)
- **Malays** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/malayan-vs-malays)
- **Malian** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/malayan-vs-malian)
- **Malaysian** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/malayan-vs-malaysian)
- **Malay** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/malay-vs-malayan)
- **Malaya** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/malaya-vs-malayan)
- **Malaga** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/malaga-vs-malayan)
- **Malabar** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/malabar-vs-malayan)

## Common misspellings (10)
`amlayan`, `maalyan`, `malaayn`, `malayann`, `malayna`, `malayyan`, `mallayan`, `malyaan`, `mlaayan`, `mmalayan`

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