nirai

Malay

Etymology

Borrowed from Tamil நிரல் (niral) via a Northern Peninsular dialect transforming final /al/ > /ai̯/.

Noun

nirai (Jawi spelling نيراي, plural nirai-nirai, informal 1st possessive niraiku, 2nd possessive niraimu, 3rd possessive nirainya)

1. (Malaysia) row, line

   Synonyms: baris, banjar, jajar

   1. file, line (of soldiers, troops)

      Synonyms: baris, barisan, kawad, kawat

References

• Wilkinson, Richard James (1901) “نيري nirai”, in A Malay-English dictionary, Hong Kong: Kelly & Walsh limited, page 96
• Wilkinson, Richard James (1932) “nirai”, in A Malay-English dictionary (romanised), volume II, Mytilene, Greece: Salavopoulos & Kinderlis, page 174

Further reading

• “nirai” in Pusat Rujukan Persuratan Melayu | Malay Literary Reference Centre, Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, 2017.