Malayalam

American

[mal-uh-yah-luhm] / ˌmæl əˈjɑ ləm /

noun

a Dravidian language spoken in extreme southwestern India.

Malayalam British

/ ˌmælɪˈɑːləm /

noun

a language of SW India, belonging to the Dravidian family and closely related to Tamil: the state language of Kerala

"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

Usage

What is Malayalam? Malayalam is a language spoken in the southwest of India, particularly in the state of Kerala. The word Malayalam can also be used as an adjective to describe the culture of the people who speak this language.

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

Malayalam

One example is Kiliye Kiliye, a 1983 Malayalam song that recently found new life in the film Lokah Chapter 1: Chandra.

From BBC ● Jun. 6, 2026

In both films, the heroines, despite living in Kerala, speak Hindi and are unable to speak fluent Malayalam when they break into it.

From BBC ● Sep. 5, 2025

But unlike the steady stream of content from other regional cinema - such as Malayalam films from Kerala - Marathi films still emerge in bursts.

From BBC ● May 28, 2025

The movie, directed by another Malayalam star Prithviraj, was a big hit and got mostly positive reviews.

From BBC ● Mar. 31, 2025

She wasn’t amused and it turned out that she didn’t even know what Malayalam was.

From "The God of Small Things" by Arundhati Roy

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023