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Glite Dictionary
Society Islands

Society Islands

6.1
An island group in French Polynesia that includes Tahiti and Bora Bora
  • proper noun
translation icon : Islas de la Sociedad
  • Tahiti is the largest island in the Society Islands, attracting many tourists each year.

Examples

  • Sometime between 200 B.C. and A.D. 600, their descendants successfully navigated their large oceangoing canoes even further east, to the Society Islands, the Marquesas, and eventually as far as Rapa Nui and Hawai'i.

    Academic text (2003)

  • He proposed that Maori ancestors first settled New Zealand sometime around A.D. 250, a hypothesis based on scholarship that showed the Society Islands may have been settled earlier than previously thought, and evidence of environmental change in New Zealand at the time.

    Academic text (2003)

  • One is closely related to rats now living in the Society Islands.

    Academic text (2003)

  • The Society Islands are known for their stunning landscapes and vibrant culture.

  • When I visit French Polynesia, I can't wait to explore the beautiful Society Islands.

Surface Forms

Society Islands main

Morphology

Society + island

The word 'islands' clearly signals a group of islands, so a B1 learner who knows 'island' will infer it refers to some islands. However, 'Society' here functions as a proper-name modifier and does not transparently convey the geographic identity or properties (the link to French Polynesia is arbitrary), so the full referential meaning is not predictable from the constituents alone.

Etymology

Society Islands comes from the explorer Captain James Cook, who named the islands Society after the 'Royal Society', the group of scientists who helped his trip. So the name simply means islands named for that 'society'.