prêts

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. An island in the southwest Pacific Ocean north of Australia. The western half is part of Indonesia, and the eastern half forms the major portion of Papua New Guinea. Inhabited by Papuan, Negrito, and Melanesian peoples, it was probably first sighted by the Portuguese in 1511 and named for the Guinea coast of western Africa.
2. Trust Territory ofNew Guinea A former trust territory of Australia consisting of northeast New Guinea, the Bismarck Archipelago, and Bougainville in the Solomon Islands. Placed under Australian jurisdiction after World War II, it was gradually broken up between 1963 and 1973.