adjective
noun
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a native or inhabitant of Melanesia: generally Negroid with frizzy hair and small stature
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a group or branch of languages spoken in Melanesia, belonging to the Malayo-Polynesian family
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See also Neo-Melanesian
Etymology
Origin of Melanesian
First recorded in 1840–50; Melanesi(a) + -an
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The islands, inhabited by its Indigenous Melanesian people since the sixth century B.C., were jointly ruled by Britain and France for nearly 100 years.
From New York Times • Dec. 8, 2022
Vanuatu has long supported the independence movement in the Indonesian province of West Papua, where much of the population is Melanesian.
From BBC • Nov. 17, 2022
In Melanesian culture, a wide-eyed gasping face is a symbol of aggression, not fear.
From Scientific American • Apr. 27, 2022
George Hoa’au, the acting director-general of the Melanesian group, said the French were "not good at anti-colonisation."
From Reuters • Dec. 10, 2021
As to the poverty of the Polynesian language in sounds and grammatical forms by comparison with the Melanesian, see R. H. Codrington, The Melanesian Languages, p.
From The Belief in Immortality and the Worship of the Dead Vol. II by Frazer, James George, Sir
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
