Melanesian

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a person from Melanesia, the southwestern Pacific region that includes New Guinea and several neighboring island groups

   Melanesians belong to many distinct peoples and speak hundreds of different languages.

2. 2
   adj

   relating to Melanesia or its diverse peoples, cultures, and languages

   The archive contains Melanesian art from several island communities.

From Melanesia + -an. Melanesia was coined in the nineteenth century from Greek melas, 'black,' + nesos, 'island.' Melanesian is a broad geographic and historical label, not the name of a single ethnicity, language, or culture.

Topics