Solomons

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The island nation in the southwest Pacific Ocean, or a figure of exceptional wisdom and judgment ; the Solomon Islands group is named for the biblical king
2. The Pacific island country east of Papua New Guinea ; a wise and sagacious person whose judgment is widely admired
3. An archipelago nation in Oceania ; a sage whose good sense resolves difficult disputes, named after the legendary Hebrew king

Etymology: The name "Solomons" is simply a shortened form of "Solomon Islands," the archipelago in the southwest Pacific. The full name goes back to the Spanish explorer Álvaro de Mendaña y Neira, who reached the islands in 1567 or 1568 and named them after King Solomon of the Hebrew Bible. He had hoped to find there the legendary mines of immense wealth that the biblical king was said to have owned, a hope that the lush, unfamiliar islands encouraged. The mines were never found, and the name stuck anyway. Over time English speakers clipped the two-word place name to "Solomons," a form that works like other shortened country and island names. The word is used almost entirely as a shorthand for the nation and its islands.