Melanesia

Also found in: Thesaurus, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia.

Related to Melanesia: Oceania

Mel·a·ne·sia

(mĕl′ə-nē′zhə)

A division of Oceania in the southwest Pacific Ocean comprising the islands northeast of Australia and south of the equator. It includes the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, New Caledonia, the Bismarck Archipelago, various other island groups, and sometimes New Guinea.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Melanesia

(ˌmɛləˈniːzɪə)

(Placename) one of the three divisions of islands in the Pacific (the others being Micronesia and Polynesia); the SW division of Oceania: includes Fiji, New Caledonia, Vanuatu, the Bismarck Archipelago, and the Louisiade, Solomon, Santa Cruz, and Loyalty Islands, which all lie northeast of Australia

[C19: from Greek melas black + nēsos island; with reference to the dark skins of the inhabitants; on the model of Polynesia]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

Mel•a•ne•sia

(ˌmɛl əˈni ʒə, -ʃə)

n.

one of the three principal divisions of Oceania, comprising the island groups in the S Pacific NE of Australia.

Mel`a•ne′sian, adj., n.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Switch to new thesaurus

Noun

Melanesia - the islands in the southwestern part of Oceania

cargo cult - (Melanesia) the followers of one of several millenarian cults that believe salvation will come in the form of wealth (`cargo') brought by westerners; some ascribe divine attributes to westerners on first contact (especially to missionaries)

Fiji Islands, Fijis - a group of more than 800 islands (100 inhabited) in the southwestern Pacific; larger islands (Viti Levu and Vanua Levu) are of volcanic origin surrounded by coral reefs; smaller islands are coral

Oceania, Oceanica - a large group of islands in the south Pacific including Melanesia and Micronesia and Polynesia (and sometimes Australasia and the Malay Archipelago)

Austronesia - islands of central and South Pacific (Indonesia and Melanesia and Micronesia and Polynesia)

Bismarck Archipelago - a group of islands in the southwestern Pacific to the northeast of New Guinea; part of Papua New Guinea

New Caledonia - an island to the to the east of Australia and to the north of New Zealand

Solomons, Solomon Islands - the northernmost islands are part of Papua New Guinea; the remainder form an independent state within the British Commonwealth

New Hebrides, Republic of Vanuatu, Vanuatu - a volcanic island republic in Melanesia; independent since 1980

References in classic literature ?

All he knew of the world was steamers, far-outlying south-sea isles, and his own island of King William in Melanesia. So Kwaque remained in the two rooms, cooking and housekeeping for his master and caring for Michael and Cocky.

View in context

His rounds took him into low-roofed cottages in which were fishing tackle and sails and here and there mementoes of deep-sea travelling, a lacquer box from Japan, spears and oars from Melanesia, or daggers from the bazaars of Stamboul; there was an air of romance in the stuffy little rooms, and the salt of the sea gave them a bitter freshness.

View in context

As this dandy of Melanesia leaped into the sunshine, the Snider rifle in his hands came into position, aimed from his hip, the generous muzzle bearing directly on Van Horn.

View in context

Ethnographically it belongs to Polynesia, Melanesia, and Micronesia, because all the breeds of the South Pacific have gravitated to it by canoe-drift and intricately, degeneratively, and amazingly interbred.

View in context

To aid in recovery, a Solomon Islands' Truth Commission was established including the Church of Melanesia who has actively supported the reconciliation efforts.

Supporting farmers in the Solomon Islands

It uses Wagner's most synthetic and complex insights--developed in Melanesia and captured in the title of his most famous book, The Invention of Culture--as a springboard for an exploration of other anthropological and societal imaginaries.

The Culture of Invention in the Americas

There is a widespread belief in sorcery throughout contemporary Melanesia with illness, death and other misfortunes like bankrupt businesses, less than productive food gardens and failure at school or university blamed on practices of sorcery (Forsyth and Eves 2015).

Sorcery and Negotiating Economic Agency: A Critical Observation from Solomon Islands

The exhibition celebrates the art of Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia, encompassing the vast Pacific region including New Guinea, Easter Island, Hawaii and New Zealand.

Meghan sparkles on solo date

Meghan got the traditional greeting at the opening of an exhibition of the art of Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia at London's Royal Academy of Arts.

It's very nose to meet you Meghan

Visitors from Oceania (Melanesia, Micronesia, Polynesia and Australasia), African and the GCC went up by 57.5%, 41.6%and 32.8% respectively to 3,479, 1,969 and 29,910 visitors during the accounted period, the NCSI data revealed.