malayo-polynesian

1. 1.

   the branch of the Austronesian languages spoken from Madagascar to the central Pacific

   SynonymsPolynesian

   BroaderAustronesian

   NarrowerOceanicTonganWestern Malayo-Polynesian

1. 1.

   of or relating to the Malayo-Polynesian branch of the Austronesian languages

Questions about malayo-polynesian

What does malayo-polynesian mean?

malayo-polynesian means "the branch of the Austronesian languages spoken from Madagascar to the central Pacific". That is the primary sense; the word has 2 in total, listed in full on this page.

How many syllables are in malayo-polynesian?

malayo-polynesian has 7 syllables: ma-la-yo--po-ly-ne-sian. The stress falls on "ne".

What is another word for malayo-polynesian?

Close synonyms include Polynesian. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.

Is malayo-polynesian a common word?

malayo-polynesian is banded "Rare" — specialist or archaic — most readers will not have met it. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.