Meanings
proper noun
- Those areas of the world, mostly in Southeast Asia and the Pacific but also including Madagascar, that are inhabited by speakers of Austronesian languages.
Origin
- Ancient Greekνῆσος“island”
- Latinaustro-“southern”
- EnglishAustronesia
Back-formation from Austronesian (from Latin austro- (“southern”) + Ancient Greek νῆσος (nêsos, “island”) + -ia).
More words from Latin, Ancient Greek
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic أُسْتْرُونِيزِيَا
- أُسْتْرُونِيزِيَا (ʔustrūnīziyā)group of islands
Catalan Austronèsia
- Austronèsiagroup of islands
Chinese Cantonese 南島 /南岛
- 南島 /南岛 (naam⁴ dou²)group of islands
Chinese Mandarin 南島 /南岛
- 南島 /南岛 (Nándǎo)group of islands
Finnish Austronesia
- Austronesiagroup of islands
French Austronésie
- Austronésiegroup of islands
Indonesian Austronesia
- Austronesiagroup of islands
Irish an Astrainéis
- an Astrainéisgroup of islands
Japanese オーストロネシア
- オーストロネシア (Ōsutoroneshia)group of islands
Korean 오스트로네시아
- 오스트로네시아 (Oseuteuronesia)group of islands
Malay Austronesia
- Austronesiagroup of islands
Persian آسترونزی
- آسترونزی (âstronezi)group of islands
Portuguese Austronésia
- Austronésiagroup of islands
Russian А̀встронези́я
- А̀встронези́я (Àvstronezíja)group of islands
Tagalog Awstronesya, Austronesya
- Awstronesyagroup of islands
- Austronesyagroup of islands
Cite this entry
APA
Austronesia. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Austronesia
MLA
“Austronesia.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Austronesia. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Austronesia,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Austronesia.
Source: Austronesia on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.