Melanesian
[mel-uh-nee-zhuh n, -shuh n]
- of or relating to Melanesia, its inhabitants, or their languages.
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Origin of Melanesian
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for melanesian
Historical Examples
The languages belong to the Melanesian and Polynesian classes.
Two Years with the Natives in the Western PacificFelix Speiser
He seemed to confirm the theory that the African is superior to the Melanesian.
Two Years with the Natives in the Western PacificFelix Speiser
It is extraordinary that a myth like the Melanesian should occur in Brazil.
Myth, Ritual, and Religion, Vol. 1Andrew Lang
But the Melanesian lads really do all this kind of work now.
Life of John Coleridge PattesonCharlotte M. Yonge
I don't want to be hunting after a Melanesian paulo-post-futurum.
Life of John Coleridge PattesonCharlotte M. Yonge
Melanesian
- of or relating to Melanesia, its people, or their languages
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- a native or inhabitant of Melanesia: generally Negroid with frizzy hair and small stature
- a group or branch of languages spoken in Melanesia, belonging to the Malayo-Polynesian family
- See also Neo-Melanesian
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for melanesian
Melanesian
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper