Link Centre Dictionary

Kiribati

ki·ri·bati

UK/ˈkiː.ɹɪ.bæs/ US/ˈkɪrəbɑːti/ uncommon

noun

Origin

From Gilbertese Kiribati, from English Gilberts adapted to Gilbertese phonotactics, a shortening of Gilbert Islands. First entry in the Dictionnaire gilbertin-français of Ernest Sabatier (1954). "Kiribati" was chosen as the republic's name by Chief Minister Sir Ieremia Tabai and his cabinet to represent his country's modernisation and extent beyond the Gilbert Islands, which are natively known as Tungaru.

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WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.