Polynesia

The story

1. Ancient Greek · derived fromπολύς“many”
2. French · borrowed fromPolynésie
3. English todayPolynesia

Borrowed from French Polynésie (coined by Charles de Brosses in 1756), from Ancient Greek πολύς (polús, “many”) + νῆσος (nêsos, “island”). According to Moon Handbooks Tahiti, de Brosses first used the term to refer to all Pacific islands. The present restricted use was established by J. S. C. Dumont d'Urville in 1832.

Words from the same roots