SPICE ISLANDS

Pronunciation (US):

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does Spice Islands mean? 

• SPICE ISLANDS (noun)
  The noun SPICE ISLANDS has 1 sense:

1. a group of island in eastern Indonesia between Celebes and New Guinea; settled by the Portuguese but taken by the Dutch who made them the center for a spice monopoly, at which time they were known as Spice Islands

  Familiarity information: SPICE ISLANDS used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SPICE ISLANDS (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A group of island in eastern Indonesia between Celebes and New Guinea; settled by the Portuguese but taken by the Dutch who made them the center for a spice monopoly, at which time they were known as Spice Islands

Classified under:

Nouns denoting spatial position

Synonyms:

Moluccas; Spice Islands

Instance hypernyms:

island (a land mass (smaller than a continent) that is surrounded by water)

Holonyms ("Spice Islands" is a part of...):

Dutch East Indies; Indonesia; Republic of Indonesia (a republic in southeastern Asia on an archipelago including more than 13,000 islands; achieved independence from the Netherlands in 1945; the principal oil producer in the Far East and Pacific regions)

 Context examples 

The scent of the spice islands was in his nostrils as he had known it on warm, breathless nights at sea, or he beat up against the southeast trades through long tropic days, sinking palm-tufted coral islets in the turquoise sea behind and lifting palm-tufted coral islets in the turquoise sea ahead.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)