mamak means A roadside stall selling Muslim Tamil or Malay cuisine; by extension, a restaurant that sells similar foods. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 94 out of 100.
Etymology
Unadapted borrowing from Malay mamak.
noun
- A roadside stall selling Muslim Tamil or Malay cuisine; by extension, a restaurant that sells similar foods.“To the untrained eye, any dish that’s labelled ‘rojak’ looks like a hot mess. However, you can’t make your way to Singapore without having a taste of authentic Mamak Rojak [...]”
- A person who owns or works in such an establishment
- A Tamil Muslim