papua
/ˈpaːpwə/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.42 in modern English
9
Scrabble Score
5
Letters
3
Syllables
3
Unique Chars
Meaning
name
The southern part of what is now called Papua New Guinea, formerly administered as a separate territory to New Guinea.
Example Sentences
- "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."
- "The Papuas are so termed in the Malay language, from their extreme darkness, approaching to black."
- "The Papua are more numerous in the Philippine Islands than anywhere else, with the exception of New Guinea."
Etymology
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.
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈpaːpwə/