Melanesia

From French Mélanésie (coined by Jules Dumont d'Urville), from Ancient Greek μέλας (mélas, “dark”) + νῆσος (nêsos, “island”), referring to the skin color of the inhabitants.

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌmɛl.əˈniː.zi.ə/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˌmɛl.əˈni.ʒə/
• (General American) Rhymes: -iːʒə
• Hyphenation: Mel‧a‧ne‧sia

Melanesia

2. A continental region of Oceania, made up of New Guinea, the Bismarck Archipelago, the Solomon Islands, New Caledonia, Vanuatu and Fiji.
   • 2004, Mary N. MacDonald, “Thinking and teaching with the indigenous traditions of Melanesia”, in Beyond primitivism: indigenous religious traditions and modernity, Routledge, →ISBN, page 315:

     My job, then, is that of a cultural and religious broker of sorts, co-opting Melanesia to serve as a stimulus to thought in Le Moyne classrooms.

• Austronesia
• Oceania

• Micronesia
• Polynesia

• Melanie

Melānēsia f sg (genitive Melānēsiae); first declension

1. (New Latin) Melanesia (a continental region of Oceania, made up of New Guinea, the Bismarck Archipelago, the Solomon Islands, New Caledonia, Vanuatu and Fiji)

First-declension noun, with locative, singular only.

From Ancient Greek, see English Melanesia.

Melanesia

1. Melanesia (a continental region of Oceania, made up of New Guinea, the Bismarck Archipelago, the Solomon Islands, New Caledonia, Vanuatu and Fiji)

• melanesisk

From Ancient Greek, see English Melanesia.

Melanesia

1. Melanesia (a continental region of Oceania, made up of New Guinea, the Bismarck Archipelago, the Solomon Islands, New Caledonia, Vanuatu and Fiji)

• melanesisk