Malagasy
/ˌmæl.əˈɡæ.si/noun
Relating to Madagascar, its people, or the Malagasy language.
Did you know?Malagasy is the English form of the native ethnonym for the people and language of Madagascar, and the language belongs to the Austronesian family—linked ultimately to Southeast Asian and Pacific languages, not to Africa’s Bantu languages.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Austronesian
PAN
*maCa
“An ancestral root related to the people/language names that spread through Island Southeast Asia”
Malay / Southeast Asian usage
Malay
Melayu
“Malay; the ethnonym that became associated with island peoples in European usage”
17th–18th Century
French
malgache
“Of Madagascar; Malagasy”
19th Century
English
Malagasy
“Relating to Madagascar or its people and language”
Explore more surprising origins