Meanings
proper noun
- A continental region of Oceania, including Easter Island, Hawaii, New Zealand, and most of the islands between them.
Origin
- Ancient Greekπολύς“many”
- FrenchPolynésie
- EnglishPolynesia
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.
More words from French, Ancient Greek
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans Polinesië
- Polinesiëpart of Oceania
Arabic بُولِينِزِيَا
- بُولِينِزِيَا (būlīniziyā)part of Oceania
Bengali পলিনেশিয়া
- পলিনেশিয়া (polineśiẏa)part of Oceania
Bulgarian Полине́зия
- Полине́зия (Polinézija)part of Oceania
Catalan Polinèsia
- Polinèsiapart of Oceania
Chinese Cantonese 波利尼西亞 /波利尼西亚
- 波利尼西亞 /波利尼西亚 (bo¹ lei⁶ nei⁴ sai¹ aa³)part of Oceania
Chinese Mandarin 波利尼西亞 /波利尼西亚, 玻里尼西亞
- 波利尼西亞 /波利尼西亚 (Bōlìníxīyà)part of Oceania
- 玻里尼西亞 (Bōlǐníxīyà)part of Oceania
Czech Polynésie
- Polynésiepart of Oceania
Danish Polynesien
- Polynesienpart of Oceania
Dutch Polynesië
- Polynesiëpart of Oceania
Esperanto Polinezio
- Polineziopart of Oceania
Estonian Polüneesia
- Polüneesiapart of Oceania
Finnish Polynesia
- Polynesiapart of Oceania
French Polynésie
- Polynésiepart of Oceania
German Polynesien
- Polynesienpart of Oceania
Greek Πολυνησία
- Πολυνησία (Polynisía)part of Oceania
Hawaiian Polenekia
- Polenekiapart of Oceania
Hebrew פּוֹלִינֶזְיָה
- פּוֹלִינֶזְיָה (polinézya)part of Oceania
Hindi पॉलिनेशिया
- पॉलिनेशिया (pŏlineśiyā)part of Oceania
Hungarian Polinézia
- Polinéziapart of Oceania
Icelandic Pólýnesía
- Pólýnesíapart of Oceania
Indonesian Polinesia
- Polinesiapart of Oceania
Irish An Pholainéis
- An Pholainéispart of Oceania
Italian Polinesia
- Polinesiapart of Oceania
Japanese ポリネシア
- ポリネシア (Porineshia)part of Oceania
Korean 폴리네시아
- 폴리네시아 (Pollinesia)part of Oceania
Latvian Polinēzija
- Polinēzijapart of Oceania
Lithuanian Polinezija
- Polinezijapart of Oceania
Malay Polinesia
- Polinesiapart of Oceania
Māori Poronihia
- Poronihiapart of Oceania
Norwegian Bokmål Polynesia
- Polynesiapart of Oceania
Persian پلینزی, پلینزی
- پلینزی (poli-nezi)part of Oceania
- پلینزی (polinezi)part of Oceania
Polish Polinezja
- Polinezjapart of Oceania
Portuguese Polinésia
- Polinésiapart of Oceania
Romanian Polinezia
- Polineziapart of Oceania
Russian Полине́зия
- Полине́зия (Polinɛ́zija)part of Oceania
Slovak Polynézia
- Polynéziapart of Oceania
Spanish Polinesia
- Polinesiapart of Oceania
Swedish Polynesien
- Polynesienpart of Oceania
Tagalog Dampuluan, Polynesia
- Dampuluanpart of Oceania
- Polynesiapart of Oceania
Tamil பொலினீசியா
- பொலினீசியா (poliṉīciyā)part of Oceania
Thai พอลินีเชีย
- พอลินีเชีย (pɔɔ-lí-nii-chiia)part of Oceania
Turkish Polinezya
- Polinezyapart of Oceania
Ukrainian Поліне́зія
- Поліне́зія (Polinézija)part of Oceania
Urdu پولینیشیا
- پولینیشیا (polīneśiyā)part of Oceania
Vietnamese Pô-li-nê-di, Đa Đảo
- Pô-li-nê-dipart of Oceania
- Đa Đảopart of Oceania
Welsh Polynesia
- Polynesiapart of Oceania
Yiddish פּאָלינעזיע
- פּאָלינעזיע (polinezye)part of Oceania
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with Polynesia
All rhymes →Cite this entry
APA
Polynesia. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Polynesia
MLA
“Polynesia.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Polynesia. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Polynesia,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Polynesia.
Source: Polynesia on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.