South Sea Islandn.
/ˌsaʊθ siː ˈʌɪlənd/, U.S. /ˌsaʊθ ˌsi ˈaɪlənd/ Usually in plural. Any of numerous islands in the (South) Pacific Ocean.Often used with reference to those islands east of Australia and the Malay Archipelago (or, more specifically, those east of Melanesia and Micronesia), which are now more commonly called Polynesia.
ΚΠ
1770 J. Cook Jrnl. 31 Mar. (1955) I. 288 What is meant by the South Sea Islands are those Islands we our selves touch'd at.
1797 Encycl. Brit. V. 391/1 While Mr. Cook proceeded to visit others of the South Sea Islands.
1803 W. Bingley Animal Biogr. II. 536 The Crested Penguins are inhabitants of several of the South Sea islands.
1874 A. Trollope Harry Heathcote iv. 89 A gang of Polynesian labourers..from the South Sea Islands.
1924 Otago Witness (Dunedin, N.Z.) 25 Mar. 6 The kawa, or native pepper-tree..is almost identical with the common kawa or kava of the South Sea Islands.
1992 A. Bell tr. M. Toussaint-Samat Hist. Food vi. 177 The people of the South Sea Islands pound the starchy pith of certain palm trees into a kind of mush.
2000 Vanity Fair (N.Y.) Oct. 297/2 CBS's new ‘reality TV’ show Survivor , which stranded 16 contestants on a deserted South Sea island, became an instant huge hit.
Compounds
General attributive.
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1807 People's Friend & Daily Advertiser 18 Feb. 3/1 The simple south-sea island hero, who when a ship appears or a gun is fired, runs up into the mountains.
1870 Overland Monthly June 557/1 I know not where you may be at this moment—living with what South-Sea Island god, drinking the milk of cocoa-nut, and eating bread-fruit.
1921 Amer. Angler Aug. 198/1 It was comparatively easy for me to speak with this native, since I had read so many South Sea Island stories.
1946 Cosmopolitan Oct. 104/1 The raffia strings that Anne had wheedled from a film director who had used them in a South Sea Island picture.
2005 R. Louv Last Child in Woods xvii. 228 Her personal goal is to photograph and catalogue South Sea island huts before they fade away forever.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2011; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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