Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

polynesia

/ˌpɑləˈniʒə/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.76 in modern English

Syllables: poly-ne-sia
IPA: /ˌpɑləˈniʒə/

14

Scrabble Score

9

Letters

4

Syllables

9

Unique Chars

Meaning

name

A continental region of Oceania, including Easter Island, Hawaii, New Zealand, and most of the islands between them.

Etymology

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.

Origin

Source language: French

Word Breakdown

Root: Polynésie, πολύς

Regional Pronunciation

American English: /ˌpɑləˈniʒə/
British English: /pɒləˈniːzi.ə/

Derived Forms

Polynesid

Frequently Paired Words

Polynesian Melanesia Micronesia

Rhymes With

indonesia tunisia anesthesia amnesia rhodesia anaesthesia micronesia magnesia analgesia freesia synaesthesia promnesia

Questions

How do you pronounce polynesia?: The recorded pronunciation is /ˌpɑləˈniʒə/.
What does polynesia mean?: A continental region of Oceania, including Easter Island, Hawaii, New Zealand, and most of the islands between them.
Where does polynesia come from?: It is traced to French.

How to pronounce polynesia

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “polynesia”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˌpɑləˈniʒə/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “polynesia”.
Repeat and practice — Say “polynesia” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.