Meanings
proper noun
- A continental region of Oceania, consisting of New Guinea, the Bismarck Archipelago, the Solomon Islands, New Caledonia, Vanuatu and Fiji.
My job, then, is that of a cultural and religious broker of sorts, co-opting Melanesia to serve as a stimulus to thought in Le Moyne classrooms.
2004, Mary N. MacDonald, “Thinking and teaching with the indigenous traditions of Melanesia”, in Beyond primitivism: indigenous religious traditions and modernity, Routledge, →ISBN, page 315
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*melh₂-
- Proto-Indo-European*mélh₂ns
- Proto-Hellenic*mélans
- Ancient Greekμέλας (mélas)
- Ancient Greekνῆσος (nêsos)
- FrenchMélanésie
- EnglishMelanesia
From French Mélanésie (coined by Jules Dumont d'Urville), from Ancient Greek μέλας (mélas, “dark”) + νῆσος (nêsos, “island”), referring to the skin color of the inhabitants.
More words from French, Ancient Greek
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans Melanesië
- Melanesiëpart of Oceania
Arabic مِيلَانِيزِيَا
- مِيلَانِيزِيَا (mīlānīziyā)part of Oceania
Bulgarian Мелане́зия
- Мелане́зия (Melanézija)part of Oceania
Catalan Melanèsia
- Melanèsiapart of Oceania
Chinese Mandarin 美拉尼西亞 /美拉尼西亚
- 美拉尼西亞 /美拉尼西亚 (Měilāníxīyà)part of Oceania
Czech Melanésie
- Melanésiepart of Oceania
Danish Melanesien
- Melanesienpart of Oceania
Dutch Melanesië
- Melanesiëpart of Oceania
Esperanto Melanezio
- Melaneziopart of Oceania
Estonian Melaneesia
- Melaneesiapart of Oceania
Finnish Melanesia
- Melanesiapart of Oceania
French Mélanésie
- Mélanésiepart of Oceania
German Melanesien
- Melanesienpart of Oceania
Greek Μελανησία
- Μελανησία (Melanisía)part of Oceania
Hebrew מֶלַנֶזיה
- מֶלַנֶזיה (melanézya)part of Oceania
Hindi मॅलानिशिया
- मॅलानिशिया (mĕlāniśiyā)part of Oceania
Hungarian Melanézia
- Melanéziapart of Oceania
Icelandic Melanesía
- Melanesíapart of Oceania
Indonesian Melenasia
- Melenasiapart of Oceania
Irish an Mheilinéis
- an Mheilinéispart of Oceania
Italian Melanesia
- Melanesiapart of Oceania
Japanese メラネシア
- メラネシア (Meraneshia)part of Oceania
Korean 멜라네시아
- 멜라네시아 (Mellanesia)part of Oceania
Latvian Melanēzija
- Melanēzijapart of Oceania
Lithuanian Melanezija
- Melanezijapart of Oceania
Malay Melanesia
- Melanesiapart of Oceania
Māori Meranihia
- Meranihiapart of Oceania
Norwegian Bokmål Melanesia
- Melanesiapart of Oceania
Persian ملانزی
- ملانزی (melânezi)part of Oceania
Polish Melanezja
- Melanezjapart of Oceania
Portuguese Melanésia
- Melanésiapart of Oceania
Romanian Melanezia
- Melaneziapart of Oceania
Russian Мелане́зия
- Мелане́зия (Melanɛ́zija)part of Oceania
Slovak Melanézia
- Melanéziapart of Oceania
Spanish Melanesia
- Melanesiapart of Oceania
Swedish Melanesien
- Melanesienpart of Oceania
Tagalog Timpuluan, Melanesya
- Timpuluanpart of Oceania
- Melanesyapart of Oceania
Thai เมลานีเซีย
- เมลานีเซีย (mee-laa-nii-siia)part of Oceania
Turkish Melanezya
- Melanezyapart of Oceania
Ukrainian Мелане́зія
- Мелане́зія (Melanézija)part of Oceania
Urdu میلانیشیا
- میلانیشیا (melāniśiyā)part of Oceania
Vietnamese Mê-la-nê-di
- Mê-la-nê-dipart of Oceania
Yiddish מעלאַנעזיע
- מעלאַנעזיע (melanezye)part of Oceania
Cite this entry
APA
Melanesia. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Melanesia
MLA
“Melanesia.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Melanesia. Accessed November 4, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Melanesia,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Melanesia.
Source: Melanesia on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.