Melanesoidadj.
/ˌmɛləˈniːzɔɪd/, U.S. /ˌmɛləˈniˌzɔɪd/ Cultural Anthropology.
Physically similar to the typical Melanesian; resembling a Melanesian. Also: similar to Melanesia with regard to culture.
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the world > people > ethnicities > Polynesian, Melanesian, and Micronesian > [adjective]
Alfurian1839
Melanesian1849
Austronesian1903
Melanesoid1932
Pasifika1974
1932 Man Dec. 283 The term Melanesoid was used to indicate the offspring of tribes from Southern China (Yunnan) and Northern Indo-China (Tonkin).
1939 F. Weidenreich in Peking Nat. Hist. Bull. 13 170 The morphological analysis of the three skulls..led to the result that they typify three different racial elements, best to be classified as primitive Mongoloid, Melanesoid and Eskimoid types.
1943 F. Weidenreich Skull of Sinanthropus Pekinensis 251 Skull of a female... The female, B, shows the greatest similarity to the Melanesians of today. For this reason I have designated the type as ‘Melanesoid’.
1962 Current Anthropol. 3 419/2 I am of the opinion that the melanesoid elements in the recent Micronesian culture go back to a later drift from northwestern Melanesia.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2001; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.1932