New Guinea
Americannoun
noun
-
an island in the W Pacific, north of Australia: divided politically into Papua (formerly Irian Jaya, a province of Indonesia) in the west and Papua New Guinea in the east. There is a central chain of mountains and a lowland area of swamps in the south and along the Sepik River in the north. Area: 775 213 sq km (299 310 sq miles)
-
(until 1975) an administrative division of the former Territory of Papua and New Guinea, consisting of the NE part of the island of New Guinea together with the Bismarck Archipelago; now part of Papua New Guinea
Discover More
New Guinea is the world's second-largest island, after Greenland.
It was named for its resemblance to the Guinea coast of western Africa.
Other Word Forms
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.
Australia has greatly upped its diplomatic efforts in response, securing new deals with the likes of Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu and Tuvalu.
From Barron's ● Jul. 6, 2026
"We have continued to engage constructively with the Papua New Guinea government since their notification of suspension to have these trade restrictions removed," Collins said.
From Barron's ● Jun. 24, 2026
To conduct the study, researchers sequenced the genomes of 177 people from 12 populations across Near Oceania, the southwestern Pacific region that includes Papua New Guinea, the Bismarck Archipelago, and the Solomon Islands.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 14, 2026
Treble-winning Hull KR boss Willie Peters will leave the reigning Super League champions at the end of the season to become the first head coach of new National Rugby League side Papua New Guinea Chiefs.
From BBC ● Mar. 29, 2026
Thus, the outcome of the Austronesian expansion in the New Guinea region was opposite to that in Indonesia and the Philippines.
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
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.
