Polynesian

English

Etymology

From Polynesia +‎ -an.

Pronunciation

  • Rhymes: -iːʒən
  • Audio (US):(file)

Adjective

Polynesian (comparative more Polynesian, superlative most Polynesian)

  1. Of, from, or pertaining to Polynesia.

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Noun

Polynesian (plural Polynesians)

  1. A person from Polynesia.
    • 2007 May 27, Douglas Martin, “Kawika Kapahulehua Dies; Hawaiian Seafarer Was 76”, in The New York Times[1]:
      He felt having a Micronesian navigator meant he needed a pureblooded Polynesian, preferably a Hawaiian, as captain.
    • 2008, Andrew David Grainger, The Browning of the All Blacks: Pacific Peoples, Rugby, and the Cultural Politics of Identity in New Zealand[2], page 326:
      Blackbirding was the euphemism given to the slave-trading that occurred in the Pacific from the mid-1800s through to the early-1900s. According to one study, blackbirding, [as] “the practice of luring Melanesians and Polynesians to toil for next to nothing was called”, involved upwards of 60,000 people between 1863 and 1904 (Horne, 2007, p. 2).

Translations

Proper noun

Polynesian

  1. A language group spoken by these people.

Derived terms

Translations