Austroasiatic

[ aw-stroh-ey-zhee-at-ik, -shee- ]

noun

a family of languages spoken in SE Asia and the landsaround the Bay of Bengal and consisting principally of Vietnamese, Khmer, Mon, Khasi, Nicobarese, and the Munda languages.

adjective

of or relating to Austroasiatic.

Origin of Austroasiatic

First recorded in 1920–25; austro- + Asiatic

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

British Dictionary definitions for Austro-Asiatic

Austro-Asiatic

noun

a hypothetical phylum or superfamily of languages consisting of Mon-Khmer and certain other languages of India and South-East Asia. Links with Malayo-Polynesian have also been suggested

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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