Meanings
alternative obsolete Malavar · alternative obsolete Malibar · alternative obsolete Melibar · alternative obsolete Mahabar · alternative obsolete Minibar
- IndiahistoricalA district of British India.
- A suburb of Sydney in the Randwick council area, New South Wales, Australia.
plural Malabars · alternative obsolete Malavar · alternative obsolete Malibar · alternative obsolete Melibar · alternative obsolete Mahabar · alternative obsolete Minibar
- A native of Malabar.
The Singhalese dialect seems to have sprung from the Pali language, while the Malabars speak the entirely dissimilar Tamil language.
1883, Ernst Haeckel, India and Ceylon, page 50
Synonyms & antonyms
Origin
- Malayalamമല
- Classical Persianبَار“coast”
- Arabicبَرّ“land, ground”
- Arabicمَلَبَار
- EnglishMalabar
Borrowed from Arabic مَلَبَار (malabār), first attested in the writings of Iranian scholar Al-Biruni (c. 11th century). The second element is either from Arabic بَرّ (barr, “land, ground”) or from Classical Persian بَار (bār, “coast”), and the first element is the same as the Medieval Greek toponym Μαλέ (Malé) (itself in turn derived from Malayalam മല (mala)), mentioned by traveller Cosmas Indicopleustes in the 5th century as a source of pepper exports, concording with modern-day pepper cultivation on the Malabar coast. Mala ~ Male is, in turn, borrowed from Malayalam മല (mala, “mountain”). This is also the source of the name of the language: മലയാളം (malayāḷaṁ, literally “mountain place”). Compare Zanzibar for a possibly similar word formation.
More words from Arabic, Classical Persian, Malayalam
Full word history & related roots →Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
Malabar. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Malabar
“Malabar.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Malabar. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Malabar,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Malabar.
Source: Malabar on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.