ma lai

See also: Mã Lai

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Vietnamese.

Noun

ma lai m or f by sense (plural ma lai)

1. A type of evil spirit of Vietnamese folklore

See also

• femme-renarde

 

Vietnamese

ma lai

Etymology

ma +‎ lai.

Pronunciation

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [maː˧˧ laːj˧˧]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [maː˧˧ laːj˧˧]
• (Hồ Chí Minh City) IPA^(key): [maː˧˧ laːj˧˧]

Noun

(classifier con) ma lai

1. a type of evil spirit in Vietnamese and other Southeast Asian folklore, appearing as a young beautiful woman with internal organs hanging from her neck where her torso should be; also known as กระสือ (grà-sʉ̌ʉ) in Thai and អាប (ʼaap) in Khmer