WikiWord

English

Austronesia

/ˌɒs.tɹəˈniː.ʒə/ · name

Meaning

  1. Those areas of the world, mostly in Southeast Asia and the Pacific but also including Madagascar, that are inhabited by speakers of Austronesian languages.

Etymology / origin

Back-formation from Austronesian (from Latin austro- (“southern”) + Ancient Greek νῆσος (nêsos, “island”) + -ia).

Sources

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