Polynesian

[ pol-uh-nee-zhuhn, -shuhn ]

adjective

1. of or relating to Polynesia, its inhabitants, or their languages.

noun

1. a member of any of a number of peoples originating from and inhabiting Polynesia, and speaking closely related Austronesian languages.
2. the easternmost group of Austronesian languages, including Maori, Tahitian, Samoan, Hawaiian, and the language of Easter Island.

Polynesian

/ -ʒɪən; ˌpɒlɪˈniːʒən /

adjective

1. of or relating to Polynesia, its people, or any of their languages

noun

1. a member of the people that inhabit Polynesia, generally of Caucasoid features with light skin and wavy hair
2. a branch of the Malayo-Polynesian family of languages, including Māori and Hawaiian and a number of other closely related languages of the S and central Pacific

Word History and Origins

Origin of Polynesian¹

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

Example Sentences

Stepping off, we hear the thrum of a ukulele and are saluted by a regal-looking Polynesian man.

From Outside Online

The South American ancestry reached three nearby sets of eastern Polynesian islands between roughly 1200 and 1230, followed by Rapa Nui in around 1380.

From Science News

Comparisons of the length of DNA segments shared by Polynesians and Indigenous peoples from the Americas enabled calculations of when Indigenous American DNA was first introduced to Polynesian groups.

From Science News

Computer simulations since have indicated that winds and currents would carry a vessel from northern South America to the Polynesian islands.

From Science News

Those ancestors then could have carried that crop and South American DNA to a majority of eastern Polynesian islands, he says.

From Science News

Around midnight, she and her husband Lennie Hayton dropped by the Luau, a faux-Polynesian restaurant in Beverly Hills.

From The Daily Beast

Yet its cranial capacity is far above that of the highest apes, and is assimilated with that of Hottentot and Polynesian skulls.

From Project Gutenberg

It seemed to them as if they had left the Polynesian savages and were once more in civilised society.

From Project Gutenberg

It is natural that myths dating from an age when Greek gods resembled Polynesian idols should be as rude as Polynesian myths.

From Project Gutenberg

In only one or two known cases (as in that of the Polynesian Taaroa) is he in receipt of sacrifice.

From Project Gutenberg

Among the Maories and their Polynesian kinsmen the priests are the great depositaries of tradition.

From Project Gutenberg