PAPUAN

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does Papuan mean? 

• PAPUAN (noun)
  The noun PAPUAN has 2 senses:

1. a native or inhabitant of Papua New Guinea or New Guinea

2. any of the indigenous languages spoken in Papua New Guinea or New Britain or the Solomon Islands that are not Malayo-Polynesian languages

  Familiarity information: PAPUAN used as a noun is rare.

• PAPUAN (adjective)
  The adjective PAPUAN has 1 sense:

1. of or relating to Papua or its people or language

  Familiarity information: PAPUAN used as an adjective is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• PAPUAN (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A native or inhabitant of Papua New Guinea or New Guinea

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Hypernyms ("Papuan" is a kind of...):

Indonesian (a native or inhabitant of Indonesia)

Holonyms ("Papuan" is a member of...):

New Guinea (a Pacific island to the north of Australia; the 2nd largest island in the world; the western part is governed by Indonesia and the eastern part is Papua New Guinea)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Any of the indigenous languages spoken in Papua New Guinea or New Britain or the Solomon Islands that are not Malayo-Polynesian languages

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

Papuan; Papuan language

Hypernyms ("Papuan" is a kind of...):

natural language; tongue (a human written or spoken language used by a community; opposed to e.g. a computer language)

Derivation:

Papuan (of or relating to Papua or its people or language)

• PAPUAN (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Of or relating to Papua or its people or language

Classified under:

Relational adjectives (pertainyms)

Context example:

Papuan vowels

Pertainym:

Papua (the southeastern part of Papua New Guinea)

Derivation:

Papua (the southeastern part of Papua New Guinea)

Papuan (any of the indigenous languages spoken in Papua New Guinea or New Britain or the Solomon Islands that are not Malayo-Polynesian languages)

 Context examples 

The man-eatin' Papuans had me once, but they are Chesterfields compared to this crowd.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)