Skip to content

Australasia

proper noun

  1. region of Oceania
L254256 on Wikidata ↗

Wiktionary

Pronunciation: /ˌɒstɹəˈleɪʒə/ / /ˌɔstɹəˈlæɪʒɐ/

name

Etymology: Borrowed from French Australasie, coined by French scholar and politician Charles de Brosses in 1756, from the Latin for “south of Asia”. By surface analysis, Austral- + Asia.

  1. Synonym of Oceania: a continent or continental region composed of Australia, New Zealand and the islands of Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia.
  2. A continental region in Oceania, consisting of Australia, New Zealand, New Guinea and neighbouring Melanesian islands.