Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “Austronesian” come from?

Austronesian derives from German Austronesisch, from Latin auster meaning south or south wind, from Proto-Indo-European h₂ews-.

Austronesian (English): Pertaining to the Austronesian language family,...

Definitions

  1. Pertaining to the Austronesian language family,...

Ancestry of “Austronesian”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1GermanAustronesisch—
2LatinausterThe south wind; south
3Proto-Italic*austeros—

Words derived from “Austronesian”

  • Austronesianist
  • Proto-Austronesian
Every word from Proto-Italic *austeros →