malaya
noun
Simple meaning
A former country in Southeast Asia, now part of Malaysia.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
muhlayuhSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
məˈleɪə
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
historical
A former colony and later a former independent country in Southeast Asia, existing on the southern part of the Malay Peninsula from 1948 to 1963; independent from 1957 and merged in 1963 with the territories of East Malaysia, forming modern Malaysia; in full, Federation of Malaya.
historical
A group of former British colonies and protectorates in Southeast Asia, existing on the southern part of the Malay Peninsula from 1826 to 1957, excepting the period of Japanese occupation during World War II; in full, British Malaya.
historical
The region of Malaysia on the Malay Peninsula; shares a land border with Thailand to the north
historical
A peninsula and geographic region of Southeast Asia constituting the southern part of the Malay Peninsula and several nearby islands, currently forming the western part of Malaysia; now known as West Malaysia or Peninsular Malaysia.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C2 · Proficient (estimated)
- Frequency
- Rare
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Common Patterns and Combinations
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Word Family
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Related words
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A tapir found in Malaya and Sumatra.
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More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: former colony and later a former independent country in Southeast Asia
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