Moluccas

English

Etymology

From Maluku, thought to have been derived from the term used by Arab traders for the region, Arabic جَزِيرَات المَلِك‎ (jazīrāt al-malik, literally “king islands”), from the word مَلِك‎ (malik). However, since the name itself has been mentioned in a 14th-century Majapahit eulogy, Nagarakretagama, that predates the arrival of Islam in Maluku at the late fifteenth century, other sources claim that the name comes from a local language with the meaning "the head of a bull" or "the head of something large".[1]

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /məˈlʌkəz/

Proper noun

Moluccas

An archipelago in Indonesia.

Synonyms

Maluku
Maluku Islands/Maluku islands
Moluccan Islands
Spice Islands

Translations

archipelago

Armenian: Մոլուքյան կղզիներ pl (Molukʿyan kłziner)
Czech: Moluky
French: Moluques (fr) pl

German: Molukken pl
Russian: Молу́ккские острова́ pl (Molúkkskije ostrová)

References

The World of Maluku: Eastern Indonesia in the Early Modern Period, Honolulu: Univ. of Hawaii Press, 1993, →ISBN

[1] The World of Maluku: Eastern Indonesia in the Early Modern Period, Honolulu: Univ. of Hawaii Press, 1993, →ISBN