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Rapa Nui

American  
[rah-puh noo-ee] / ˈrɑ pə ˈnu i /

Rapa Nui British  
/ ˈrɑːpɑː ˈnuːɪ /

noun

  1. the Polynesian name for Easter Island

"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

Example Sentences

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Elderly islanders told Routledge the legend of Rapa Nui: Long, long ago, the island had been fought over by two warring races, the Short Ears and their oppressors, the fearsome Long Ears.

From The Wall Street Journal Feb. 20, 2026

"It shows that the Rapa Nui people were incredibly smart. They figured this out," said Lipo.

From Science Daily Oct. 8, 2025

For years, researchers have puzzled over how the ancient people of Rapa Nui did the seemingly impossible and moved their iconic moai statues.

From Science Daily Oct. 8, 2025

The museum has two moai statues which were taken from the Chilean territory of Rapa Nui, or Easter Island, in 1868.

From BBC Feb. 18, 2024

Five hundred miles beyond this focalpoint, its convict settlement long abandoned, was Easter Island, Rapa Nui, home of the great monoliths whose origin had ever been a puzzle.

From Greener Than You Think by Ward Moore

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