# Polynesia

> English word · Proper noun · IPA /pɒləˈniːzi.ə/ · frequency rank #39,034

## Definitions
1. A continental region of Oceania, including Easter Island, Hawaii, New Zealand, and most of the islands between them.

## Etymology
Borrowed from French Polynésie (coined by Charles de Brosses in 1756), from Ancient Greek πολύς (polús, “many”) + νῆσος (nêsos, “island”). According to Moon Handbooks Tahiti, de Brosses first used the term to refer to all Pacific islands. The present restricted use was established by J. S. C. Dumont d'Urville in 1832.

## Easily confused with
- **Polynesian** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/polynesia-vs-polynesian)

## Common misspellings (13)
`oplynesia`, `ploynesia`, `pollynesia`, `polnyesia`, `polyensia`, `polyneisa`, `polynesai`, `polynessia`, `polynnesia`, `polynseia`, `polyynesia`, `poylnesia`, `ppolynesia`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/polynesia