Polynesia
/ˌpɒlɪˈniːziə/noun
A region of the central and southern Pacific Ocean comprising numerous island groups, including Hawaiʻi, Samoa, Tonga, and New Zealand.
Did you know?The term was coined in French in the eighteenth century as part of a European classification of Pacific peoples and islands, rather than being an ancient Polynesian self-designation.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*polh₁us
“Much or many; the ancestral source of Greek polús.”
Ancient Greek
Greek
polús
“Many or much.”
Ancient Greek
Greek
nêsos
“Island.”
1756
French
Polynésie
“A name formed from Greek polús, “many,” and nêsos, “island,” introduced by Charles de Brosses in a classification of Pacific regions.”
19th Century
English
Polynesia
“The English geographical name for the Pacific region of numerous islands.”
Modern English
English
Polynesia
“A cultural-geographical region of the Pacific Ocean.”
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