Etymology

Malagasy

Mal·a·gasy
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Today it means: A person from Madagascar or of Malagasy descent. Full definition →

Malagasy malagasy ← Arabic جَزِيرَة المَالَائِيّ
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The story

  1. Arabic · derived fromجَزِيرَة المَالَائِيّ“the Island of Mālāī”
  2. Malagasy · borrowed frommalagasy
  3. English todayMalagasy

Borrowed from Malagasy malagasy, connected to Mālāī-Jezīra, “island of Mālāī”. Compare English Madagascar, which by folk etymology comes from Marco Polo's misreading of Mogadishu whereas it should be Arabic جَزِيرَة المَالَائِيّ (jazīrat al-mālāʔiyy, “the Island of Mālāī”).

Words from the same roots

Arabicجَزِيرَة المَالَائِيّ all →

Madagascar

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.