Meanings
- A country in Southeast Asia. Capital: Kuala Lumpur.
- obsoleteThe Malay Archipelago.
1 more example
For the purpose of topographical description, Malaysia may be divided into six groups of islands, namely — 1. Sumatra, and the smaller islands adjacent ; 2. The long chain of islands which extends east and west from the Strait of Sunda to New Guinea, including Java, Madura, Bali, Lombok, Sumbawa, Comobo, Flares, Jindana or Sandelwood, Adenar, Solor, Lomblem, Pantar, Ombay, Timor, Semao, Rotte, Savu, Cambi, Wetter, Serwatty, Babba, Timorlaut, &c. ; 3. The Banda and Molucca Islands ; 4. Celebes and the smaller adjacent islands; 5. Borneo and adjacent islands; 6. The Philippine Islands.
1842, System of Descriptive Geography, Founded on the Works of Malte-Burn and Balbi, Edinburgh: Adam and Charles Black, page 974
Synonyms & antonyms
Origin
- MalayMelayu
- EnglishMalay
- EnglishMalaysia
Affixation of Malay + -sia (alternative form of -ia), coined by British geographers in the 19th century as one of several terms used to refer to the Malay Archipelago, can be translated as "land of the Malays". A popular folk etymology holds that the country name was formed by adding ⟨-si-⟩ to Malaya, short for the former Federation of Malaya, to honour the inclusion of Singapore, Sarawak and North Borneo (Sabah) when the country was formed.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans Maleisië
- Maleisiëcountry in Southeast Asia
Arabic مَالَيْزِيَا
- مَالَيْزِيَا (malayziyā)country in Southeast Asia
Bengali মালয়েশিয়া
- মালয়েশিয়া (malẏeśiẏa)country in Southeast Asia
Bulgarian Мала́йзия
- Мала́йзия (Malájzija)country in Southeast Asia
Catalan Malàisia
- Malàisiacountry in Southeast Asia
Chinese Cantonese 馬來西亞 /马来西亚
- 馬來西亞 /马来西亚 (maa⁵ loi⁴ sai¹ aa³)country in Southeast Asia
Chinese Mandarin 馬來西亞 /马来西亚
- 馬來西亞 /马来西亚 (Mǎláixīyà)country in Southeast Asia
Czech Malajsie
- Malajsiecountry in Southeast Asia
Danish Malaysia
- Malaysiacountry in Southeast Asia
Dutch Maleisië
- Maleisiëcountry in Southeast Asia
Esperanto Malajzio
- Malajziocountry in Southeast Asia
Estonian Malaisia
- Malaisiacountry in Southeast Asia
Finnish Malesia
- Malesiacountry in Southeast Asia
French Malaisie
- Malaisiecountry in Southeast Asia
German Malaysia, Malaysien
- Malaysiacountry in Southeast Asia
- Malaysiencountry in Southeast Asia
Greek Μαλαισία
- Μαλαισία (Malaisía)country in Southeast Asia
Hawaiian Malaia, Malaisia
- Malaiacountry in Southeast Asia
- Malaisiacountry in Southeast Asia
Hebrew מָלֶזְיָה
- מָלֶזְיָה (malezya)country in Southeast Asia
Hindi मलेशिया
- मलेशिया (maleśiyā)country in Southeast Asia
Hungarian Malajzia
- Malajziacountry in Southeast Asia
Icelandic Malasía
- Malasíacountry in Southeast Asia
Indonesian Malaysia
- Malaysiacountry in Southeast Asia
Italian Malesia
- Malesiacountry in Southeast Asia
Japanese マレーシア
- マレーシア (Marēshia)country in Southeast Asia
Korean 말레이시아
- 말레이시아 (Malleisia)country in Southeast Asia
Latin Malaesia
- Malaesiacountry in Southeast Asia
Latvian Malaizija
- Malaizijacountry in Southeast Asia
Lithuanian Malaizija
- Malaizijacountry in Southeast Asia
Malay Malaysia, مليسيا
- Malaysiacountry in Southeast Asia
- مليسياcountry in Southeast Asia
Māori Marēhia
- Marēhiacountry in Southeast Asia
Norwegian Bokmål Malaysia
- Malaysiacountry in Southeast Asia
Polish Malezja
- Malezjacountry in Southeast Asia
Portuguese Malásia
- Malásiacountry in Southeast Asia
Punjabi ਮਲੇਸ਼ੀਆ, مَلیشیا
- ਮਲੇਸ਼ੀਆ (maleśīā)country in Southeast Asia
- مَلیشیا (maleśeyā)country in Southeast Asia
Romanian Malaezia, Malaysia
- Malaeziacountry in Southeast Asia
- Malaysiacountry in Southeast Asia
Russian Мала́йзия
- Мала́йзия (Malájzija)country in Southeast Asia
Slovak Malajzia
- Malajziacountry in Southeast Asia
Spanish Malasia
- Malasiacountry in Southeast Asia
Swahili Malaysia, Malesia
- Malaysiacountry in Southeast Asia
- Malesiacountry in Southeast Asia
Swedish Malaysia
- Malaysiacountry in Southeast Asia
Tagalog Malasya
- Malasyacountry in Southeast Asia
Tamil மலேசியா
- மலேசியா (malēciyā)country in Southeast Asia
Thai มาเลเซีย
- มาเลเซีย (maa-lee-siia)country in Southeast Asia
Turkish Malezya
- Malezyacountry in Southeast Asia
Ukrainian Мала́йзія
- Мала́йзія (Malájzija)country in Southeast Asia
Urdu مَلائِیشِیا, مَلائِشِیا
- مَلائِیشِیا (malāīśiyā)country in Southeast Asia
- مَلائِشِیا (malāiśiyā)country in Southeast Asia
Vietnamese Ma-lai-xi-a, Mã Lai
- Ma-lai-xi-acountry in Southeast Asia
- Mã Laicountry in Southeast Asia
Yiddish מאַלײַזיע
- מאַלײַזיע (malayzye)country in Southeast Asia
Zulu eMalaysia
- eMalaysiacountry in Southeast Asia
Cite this entry
Malaysia. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Malaysia
“Malaysia.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Malaysia. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Malaysia,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Malaysia.
Source: Malaysia on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.