Melanesia

[ mel-uh-nee-zhuh, -shuh ]

/ ˌmɛl əˈni ʒə, -ʃə /

noun

one of the three principal divisions of Oceania, comprising the island groups in the S Pacific NE of Australia.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for melanesia

Fire is lighted here, as in all Melanesia, by “ploughing,” a small stick being rubbed lengthwise in a larger one.
Two Years with the Natives in the Western Pacific|Felix Speiser
I did not aim only at getting money for Melanesia; I took much higher ground than that.
Life of John Coleridge Patteson|Charlotte M. Yonge
Melanesia doesn't have such combinations of consonants and harsh sounds as our vernacular rejoices in.
Life of John Coleridge Patteson|Charlotte M. Yonge
So the first division into Melanesia and Polynesia has in latest times come to be of value, and the dogma once fixed has remained.
The Former Philippines thru Foreign Eyes|Toms de Comyn

This is almost the only example of a ferry-boat used by ghosts in Melanesia.
The Belief in Immortality and the Worship of the Dead, Volume I (of 3)|Sir James George Frazer

British Dictionary definitions for melanesia

Melanesia

/ (ˌmɛləˈniːzɪə) /

noun

one of the three divisions of islands in the Pacific (the others being Micronesia and Polynesia); the SW division of Oceania: includes Fiji, New Caledonia, Vanuatu, the Bismarck Archipelago, and the Louisiade, Solomon, Santa Cruz, and Loyalty Islands, which all lie northeast of Australia

Word Origin for Melanesia

C19: from Greek melas black + nēsos island; with reference to the dark skins of the inhabitants; on the model of Polynesia

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

Word Origin and History for melanesia

Melanesia

one of three large divisions of Pacific islands, 1840, from a continental language, from melano- + nesos "island" (see Chersonese) + -ia. Modeled after Polynesia and meant to signify "the islands inhabited by blacks."

La Melanesia comprende la grande isola Australia, e quelle degli arcipelaghi di Salomone, di Lapèrouse, di Quiros, e dei gruppi della Nuova Caledonia, di Norfolk, e della Diemenin. A cagione dei Neri Oceanici, che, quasi esclusivamente, ne popolano le regioni, questa parte della Oceania ebbe dai moderni geografi e viaggiatori (il Graberg, il Rienzi, il d'Urville, ec.) il nome di Melanesia. ["Corso di Geografia Universale," Firenze, 1839]