Malayo-Polynesian

[ muh-ley-oh-pol-uh-nee-zhuhn, -shuhn ]

/ məˈleɪ oʊˌpɒl əˈni ʒən, -ʃən /

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noun, adjective

Austronesian.

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Words nearby Malayo-Polynesian

Malayali, Malayan, Malayan camphor, Malay Archipelago, Malayo-, Malayo-Polynesian, Malay Peninsula, Malaysia, Malaysian, Malay States, Malbec

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2021

How to use Malayo-Polynesian in a sentence

Around midnight, she and her husband Lennie Hayton dropped by the Luau, a faux-Polynesian restaurant in Beverly Hills.
Lena Horne's Stormy Past|James Gavin|May 10, 2010|DAILY BEAST
Yet its cranial capacity is far above that of the highest apes, and is assimilated with that of Hottentot and Polynesian skulls.
Man And His Ancestor|Charles Morris
It seemed to them as if they had left the Polynesian savages and were once more in civilised society.
Frederick Chopin as a Man and Musician|Frederick Niecks
It is natural that myths dating from an age when Greek gods resembled Polynesian idols should be as rude as Polynesian myths.
Myth, Ritual, and Religion, Vol. 1|Andrew Lang

In only one or two known cases (as in that of the Polynesian Taaroa) is he in receipt of sacrifice.
Myth, Ritual, and Religion, Vol. 1|Andrew Lang
Among the Maories and their Polynesian kinsmen the priests are the great depositaries of tradition.
The Science of Fairy Tales|Edwin Sidney Hartland

British Dictionary definitions for Malayo-Polynesian

Malayo-Polynesian

noun

Also called: Austronesian a family of languages extending from Madagascar to the central Pacific, including Malagasy, Malay, Indonesian, Tagalog, and PolynesianSee also Austro-Asiatic

adjective

of or relating to this family of languages

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