panga

English

WOTD – 12 August 2011    

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA: /ˈpaŋɡə/
• (US) IPA: /ˈpæŋɡə/

Etymology 1

From Swahili panga.

Noun

panga (plural pangas)

1. (East Africa, South Africa) A large broad-bladed knife.
   • 1967, Ngugi wa Thiong'o, A Grain of Wheat, EAEP 2008, p. 77:

     She turned to the small basket she was carrying and took out a panga.

   • 1994, Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom, Abacus 2010, p. 690:

     I pleaded with them to lay down their arms, to take each other's hands in peace: ‘Take your guns, your knives and your pangas, and throw them into the sea!’

Translations

type of knife

• Finnish: panga (fi), viidakkoveitsi (fi)

• Spanish: please add this translation if you can

Etymology 2

Back-formation from the plural, from the stem of modern Latin Pangasius (genus name), from Bengali  (pāNāś, “mud-coloured fish”), ultimatey from Sanskrit  (paNka, “mud”).

Noun

panga (plural pangas)

1. Any of various edible freshwater fish of the genus Pangasius, native to southeast Asia, especially the iridescent shark, Pangasius hypophthalmus.
2. A type of modest-sized, open, outboard-powered, fishing boat common throughout much of the developing world, including Central America, the Caribbean, parts of Africa, the Middle East, and much of Asia.

Translations

fish

• Finnish: pangasius (fi), haimonni (fi)

• Spanish: please add this translation if you can

Anagrams

• pagan, Pagan

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Estonian

Noun

panga

1. Genitive singular form of pank.

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Swahili

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈpɑŋɡɑ/

Noun

panga (class 9/10)

1. machete, panga