malay

adjective

1. of, relating to, or characteristic of a racially intermixed people who are the dominant population of the Malay Peninsula and adjacent islands.
2. of or relating to the language or culture of these people.

noun

3. a member of the Malay people.
4. an Austronesian language of Malaysia and Singapore, differing from Indonesian only in orthography.

noun

1. a member of a people living chiefly in Malaysia and Indonesia who are descendants of Mongoloid immigrants
2. the language of this people, belonging to the Malayo-Polynesian family

adjective

3. of or relating to the Malays or their language

n.1590s, from native name Malayu. As an adjective from 1779; earlier adjective form was Malayan (1660s).