Definition of Melanesia
1. Noun. The islands in the southwestern part of Oceania.
Terms within: Fiji Islands, Fijis, Bismarck Archipelago, New Caledonia, Solomon Islands, Solomons, New Hebrides, Republic Of Vanuatu, Vanuatu
Group relationships: Oceania, Oceanica, Austronesia
Generic synonyms: Archipelago
Definition of Melanesia
1. Proper noun. Part of Oceania, made up of New Guinea, the Bismarck Archipelago, the Solomon Islands, New Caledonia, Vanuatu and Fiji. ¹
¹ Source: wiktionary.com
Medical Definition of Melanesia
1. The collective name for the islands of the pacific ocean northeast of Australia, including new caledonia, vanuatu, new hebrides, solomon islands, admiralty islands, bismarck archipelago, fiji, etc. Melanesia (from the greek melas, black + nesos, island) is so called from the black colour of the natives who are generally considered to be descended originally from the negroid papuans and the polynesians or malays. (12 Dec 1998)
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Lexicographical Neighbors of Melanesia
Literary usage of Melanesia
Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:
1. The Geographical Journal by Royal Geographical Society (Great Britain). (1906)
"There are many anthropological problems in melanesia that require investigation in the immediate future, since the dying out or modification of arts, ..."
2. Dictionary and Grammar of the Language of Saʻa and Ulawa, Solomon Islands by Walter George Ivens (1918)
"melanesia AND ITS PEOPLE. melanesia is the geographical name given to various ... The term melanesia belongs properly to all of these groups of islands. ..."
3. The Belief in Immortality and the Worship of the Dead by James George Frazer (1913)
"LECTURE XVI THE BELIEF IN IMMORTALITY AMONG THE NATIVES OF CENTRAL melanesia IN our survey of savage beliefs and practices concerning the The islands dead ..."
4. The New American Cyclopaedia: A Popular Dictionary of General Knowledge by George Ripley, Charles Anderson Dana (1861)
"Micronesia and melanesia occupy the «stern portion of the Pacific. ... melanesia embraces the Feejee i-landa, the New Hebrides, Solomon's islands, ..."
5. Primitive Society: The Beginnings of the Family & the Reckoning of Descent by Edwin Sidney Hartland (1921)
"... collectively known as melanesia. They are inhabited by peoples less rude than the Australian natives, having an art in some respects of a comparatively ..."
6. Prehistoric Settlement of the Pacific by Ward Hunt Goodenough (1996)
"Island melanesia: Implications for Lapita Introduction Archaeology Jim Allen La Trobe University EAST of Southeast Asia, that area known as the Southwest ..."