Papuan

[ pap-yoo-uhn ]

/ ˈpæp yu ən /

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adjective

of or relating to New Guinea or to Papua New Guinea.

noting or pertaining to the Indigenous Black peoples of New Guinea.

of or relating to any of the unaffiliated languages indigenous to New Guinea and other islands nearby, especially Timor, the Bismarck Archipelago, the Moluccas, and the Solomons.

noun

a native or inhabitant of New Guinea or Papua New Guinea.

any of the Papuan languages.

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Origin of Papuan

First recorded in 1805–15; Papu(a) + -an

Words nearby Papuan

pappy, paprika, Pap smear, Pap test, Papua, Papuan, Papua New Guinea, Papua New Guinean, papula, papule, papyraceous

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use Papuan in a sentence

They would come close in-shore, and I would spear them from the rocks with a Papuan fishing-spear.
The Adventures of Louis de Rougemont|Louis de Rougemont
Naturally the Papuan influx affected chiefly the northern part of Central Australia.
Elements of Folk Psychology|Wilhelm Wundt
The Papuan races likewise wandered far across the Indian Ocean.
Elements of Folk Psychology|Wilhelm Wundt
In their beginnings, these factors already manifest themselves in the wanderings of the Papuan and Negrito tribes.
Elements of Folk Psychology|Wilhelm Wundt

The inhabitants were fleeing away from us in their curious canoes, which, unlike most Papuan canoes, had no outrigger whatever.
Wanderings Among South Sea Savages And in Borneo and the Philippines|H. Wilfrid Walker

British Dictionary definitions for Papuan

Papuan

/ (ˈpæpjʊən) /

adjective

of or relating to Papua or any of the languages spoken there

noun

a native or inhabitant of Papua New Guinea

any of several languages of Papua New Guinea that apparently do not belong to the Malayo-Polynesian family

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