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Melanesian. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
Melanesian, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
Melanesian in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
Melanesian you have here. The definition of the word
Melanesian will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition of
Melanesian, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
English
Etymology
From Melanesia + -an.
Adjective
Melanesian (not comparable)
- Of or relating to Melanesia.
2002, William C. Miller, Long Pig:While Melanesian cannibals make "long pig," barbecuing enemies, legal and political cannibals in San Francisco put a beautiful wealthy woman, Penny Penny Hill, on trial for murder […]
Derived terms
Translations
Noun
Melanesian (plural Melanesians)
- A Melanesian person.
2008, Andrew David Grainger, The Browning of the All Blacks: Pacific Peoples, Rugby, and the Cultural Politics of Identity in New Zealand, 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
person living in or coming from Melanesia