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Kuala Lumpur

[kwah-luh loo m-poo r]
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noun
  1. a city in and the capital of Malaysia, in the SW Malay Peninsula.
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Malaya

[muh-ley-uh]
noun
  1. Malay Peninsula.
  2. Federation of. Formerly Malay States, Malayan Union. a former federation of 11 states in the S Malay Peninsula: a British protectorate 1948–57; now forms part of Malaysia. 50,690 sq. mi. (131,287 sq. km). Capital: Kuala Lumpur.Compare Malaysia(def 1).
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Malaysia

[muh-ley-zhuh, -shuh]
noun
  1. a constitutional monarchy in SE Asia: a federation, comprising the former British territories of Malaya, Sabah, and Sarawak: member of the Commonwealth of Nations. 126,310 sq. mi. (327,143 sq. km). Capital: Kuala Lumpur.
  2. Malay Archipelago.
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Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
British Dictionary definitions for kuala lumpur

Kuala Lumpur

noun
  1. a city in Malaysia, in the SW Malay Peninsula: formerly (until 1999) the capital of Malaysia; became capital of the Federated Malay States in 1895, and of Malaysia in 1963; capital of Selangor state from 1880 to 1973, when it was made a federal territory. Pop: 1 392 000 (2005 est)
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Malaya

noun
  1. States of the Federation of Malaya part of Malaysia, in the S Malay Peninsula, constituting Peninsular Malaysia: consists of the former Federated Malay States, the former Unfederated Malay States, and the former Straits Settlements. Capital: Kuala Lumpur. Pop: 17 144 322 (2000). Area: 131 587 sq km (50 806 sq miles)
  2. Federation of Malaya a federation of the nine Malay States of the Malay Peninsula and two of the Straits Settlements (Malacca and Penang): formed in 1948: became part of the British Commonwealth in 1957 and joined Malaysia in 1963
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Malaysia

noun
  1. a federation in SE Asia (within the Commonwealth), consisting of Peninsular Malaysia on the Malay Peninsula, and East Malaysia (Sabah and Sarawak), occupying the N part of the island of Borneo: formed in 1963 as a federation of Malaya, Sarawak, Sabah, and Singapore (the latter seceded in 1965); densely forested and mostly mountainous. Official language: Malay; English and various Chinese and Indian minority languages are also spoken. Official religion: Muslim. Currency: ringgit. Capital: Kuala Lumpur. Federal seat of government: Putrajaya. Pop: 29 628 392 (2013 est). Area: 329 847 sq km (127 355 sq miles)
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for kuala lumpur

Malaysia

from Malay + Latinate ending -sia. Originally an early 19c. British geographers' name for the Indonesian archipelago. Related: Malaysian.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
kuala lumpur in Culture

Malaysia

[(muh-lay-zhuh)]

Country in Southeast Asia consisting of West Malaysia on the Malay Peninsula (extending south of Thailand) and East Malaysia on the island of Borneo. Its capital and largest city is Kuala Lumpur.

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The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.