Malabar

Meanings

Proper Noun

• region in southwestern India (country), principally the modern state of Kerala.

Noun

• A native of Malabar.

Origin

• From Arabic مَلَبَار, first attested in the writings of Iranian scholar Al-Biruni (c. 11th century). The second element is بَرّ or Persian بار, and the first element is the same as the Byzantine Greek toponym Μαλέ, 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 ("mountain"). This is also the source of the name of the language: മലയാളം. Compare Zanzibar for a possibly similar word formation.