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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

This approach allowed researchers to calculate the scale of the 16th century drought on Rapa Nui for the first time.

From Science Daily • Feb. 10, 2026

Because it is the only significant source of land-based sediment in the area, Rapa Nui offers a rare window into past atmospheric behavior.

From Science Daily • Feb. 10, 2026

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 Moore, Ward

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