Polynesia

American  

[pol-uh-nee-zhuh, -shuh] / ˌpɒl əˈni ʒə, -ʃə /

noun

1. one of the three principal divisions of Oceania, comprising those island groups in the Pacific Ocean lying east of Melanesia and Micronesia and extending from the Hawaiian Islands south to New Zealand.

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Polynesia British  

/ ˌpɒlɪˈniːʒə, -ʒɪə /

noun

1. one of the three divisions of islands in the Pacific, the others being Melanesia and Micronesia: includes Samoa, Society, Marquesas, Mangareva, Tuamotu, Cook, and Tubuai Islands, and Tonga

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Polynesia Cultural  

1. Group of islands in the central and southern Pacific Ocean, including the islands of the state of Hawaii and the islands of French Polynesia. Tahiti and Samoa are in Polynesia, which means “many islands.”

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Etymology

Origin of Polynesia

C18: via French from _poly- + Greek nēsos island

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Polynesia

On our maiden voyage in French Polynesia, we sailed to the lagoon of an island called Huahine.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 5, 2026

A tiki bar, at its best, is often a mash-up of cultural ideas and myths — bits of the Caribbean, Polynesia and Asia, and less a reflection of any real place or heritage.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 31, 2026

The flight from Melbourne was headed to Dallas on Friday when it was forced to make a stop-off in Papeete, the capital of French Polynesia, due to the disruptive passenger.

From Barron's ● May 17, 2026

The woman had flown from San Francisco on 7 May and travelled through the island of Tahiti and then Mangareva in French Polynesia, the French Polynesian government said.

From BBC ● May 13, 2026

In short, Polynesia furnishes us with a convincing example of environmentally related diversification of human societies in operation.

From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond

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