Polynesian

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], archived from the original on 8 June 2021:
        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).

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    Proper noun

    Polynesian

    1. A language group spoken by these people.

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