of, pertaining to, or characteristic of a racially intermixed, generally short-statured people who are the dominant population of the Malay Peninsula and adjacent islands.
2.
of or pertaining to the language or culture of these people.
noun
3.
a member of the Malay people.
4.
an Austronesian language of Malaysia and Singapore, differing from Indonesian only in orthography.
Related forms
non-Malay, adjective, noun
pre-Malay, adjective
British Dictionary definitions for Malay
Malay
/məˈleɪ/
noun
1.
a member of a people living chiefly in Malaysia and Indonesia who are descendants of Mongoloid immigrants
2.
the language of this people, belonging to the Malayo-Polynesian family
adjective
3.
of or relating to the Malays or their language
Word Origin and History for Malay
n.
1590s, from native name Malayu. As an adjective from 1779; earlier adjective form was Malayan (1660s).