Madagascar Terms



  • Madagascar is the name of the island in English, French, and a number of other languages.
  • Malagasy can be used as a noun for the name of the people and the language of Madagascar. As an adjective, Malagasy describes anything from Madagascar (i.e. Malagasy vanilla)
  • Madagasikara is the name of the island in Malagasy (in Malagasy the letter "c" does not exist).
  • Malgache is the French word for Malagasy.
  • Madagascan is used by people who don't know better (i.e. haven't heard/don't understand the term "Malagasy"). >