Meanings
- The southern part of what is now called Papua New Guinea, formerly administered as a separate territory to New Guinea.
- The western part of New Guinea, currently part of Indonesia.
- A province of Indonesia.
Muksin specifically mentioned 11 extinct indigenous languages, such as Tandia and Mawes in West Papua and Papua, along with Kajeli, Piru, Moksela, Palumata, Ternateno, Hukumina, Hoti, Serua, and Nila in different areas of Maluku.
2024 March 8, Antara, “11 Indigenous Languages Declared Extinct: Education Ministry”, in Jakarta Globe
plural Papuas
- datedA person indigenous to Papua.
The Papuas are so termed in the Malay language, from their extreme darkness, approaching to black.
1841, The Colonial Magazine and Commercial-Maritime Journal, page 4471 more example
The Papua are more numerous in the Philippine Islands than anywhere else, with the exception of New Guinea.
1856, The Quarterly Review of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, page 502
Origin
There are three theories: * From Malay pepuah (“curly (of hair)”) for the natives of the island of New Guinea. * From Ternate/Tidore papo ua (“not united; not coalesced”), referring to the territory that geographically was far away from the Sultanate of Tidore (and thus not united). The territory was called papo ua gam sio (“nine village/region that is not united”). * From Biak sup i babwa (“the land below [the sunset]”), referring to the islands (Raja Ampat) west of the Bird's Head, as far as Halmahera.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic بَابْوَا
- بَابْوَا (bābwā)the southern part of Papua New Guinea
Chinese Mandarin 巴布亞 /巴布亚
- 巴布亞 /巴布亚 (Bābùyà)the southern part of Papua New Guinea
Finnish Papua, Papua
- Papuaprovince of Indonesia
- Papuathe southern part of Papua New Guinea
French Papouasie
- Papouasiethe southern part of Papua New Guinea
German Papua
- Papuathe southern part of Papua New Guinea
Greek Παπουασία
- Παπουασία (Papouasía)the southern part of Papua New Guinea
Irish Papua
- Papuathe southern part of Papua New Guinea
Japanese パプア
- パプアthe southern part of Papua New Guinea
Korean 파푸아
- 파푸아the southern part of Papua New Guinea
Latin Papua
- Papuathe southern part of Papua New Guinea
Polish Papua
- Papuathe southern part of Papua New Guinea
Russian Па́пуа
- Па́пуа (Pápua)the southern part of Papua New Guinea
Spanish Papúa
- Papúathe southern part of Papua New Guinea
Ukrainian Па́пуа
- Па́пуа (Pápua)the southern part of Papua New Guinea
Cite this entry
Papua. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Papua
“Papua.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Papua. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Papua,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Papua.
Source: Papua on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.