Meanings
- poeticThe Malay language.
Or in soft whispers may he be address'd, By girls who lisp th' Italian of the East?
1801, John Collegins, “Literary Characteristics of The Most Distinguished Members of the Asiatic Society”, in The Asiatic Annual Register, page 1141 more example
Our first native servant, a boy called "Omah," came from Timor in the Gulnare, and I then heard spoken for the first time what is now as familiar to me as my mother tongue, the melodious Malayan language, the "Italian of the East," as some writers term it.
1887, Harriet W. Daly, Digging, Squatting, and Pioneering Life in the Northern Territory of South Australia, page 128
Origin
From the supposed similarities in pronunciation.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
Italian of the East. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Italian%20of%20the%20East
“Italian of the East.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Italian%20of%20the%20East. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Italian of the East,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Italian%20of%20the%20East.
Source: Italian of the East on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.