Melanesian, a. and n.
(mɛləˈniːʃ(ɪ)ən, -ˈniːʒ(ɪ)ən)
[f. Melanesia (see below: f. Gr. µέλα-ς black + νῆσος island) + -an.
The name, modelled after Polynesia, was intended to mean ‘the regions of islands inhabited by blacks’.]
A. adj. Of or pertaining to Melanesia (a group of islands in the western Pacific, including Fiji, New Caledonia, etc.), its inhabitants, language, etc. B. n. a. A native of Melanesia. b. The language of the Melanesians.
| 1849 Selwyn in Tucker Mem. (1879) I. 302 The Melanesian (Anaijom) aijeama, we, but not you. Ibid., The Melanesian dialects. 1898 A. Lang Making Relig. viii. 167 Cases in which the rod acts like those of the Melanesians, Africans, and other savages. 1904 Athenæum 9 Apr. 460/3 Words in this Melanesian language which have cognates in Malay and Malagasy. |