kanga

See also: kānga and känga

English

Etymology 1

From Punjabi ਕੰਘਾ (kaṅghā).

Alternative forms

• kangha

Noun

kanga (plural kangas)

1. (Sikhism) A comb, required to be worn at all times by Sikhs, one of the five Ks.

Etymology 2

Etymology tree

Proto-Bantu *nkángà

Swahili kangabor.

English kanga

Borrowed from Swahili kanga, from Proto-Bantu *nkángà.

Noun

kanga (plural kangas)

1. A colourful printed cotton garment worn by women in East Africa.

Etymology 3

From kangaroo, rhyming slang for screw.

Noun

kanga (plural kangas)

1. (slang) A prison warder.
   • 1996, Angela Devlin, Prison Patter‎^[1], Waterside Press, →ISBN:

     There are some 32 different terms for prison officers, from the humorously affectionate kanga(rhyming slang:kangaroo = screw) and the variants Scooby-Doo and Dr. Who via the mildly confrontational German (as if still the enemy over 50 years after World War II!) to the outright abuse of shit-parcel.

   • 2002, Julian Broadhead, Laura Kerr, Prison Writing: A Collection of Fact, Fiction and Verse‎^[2], Waterside Press, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 90:

     So we thought there'd been trouble over there, maybe all the kangas were getting into mufti.

   • 2006 February 9, Kevin Lewis, Kaitlyn‎^[3], Penguin UK, →ISBN, →OCLC:

     ‘Fucking loony bin more like. There's no one sick here, not physically anyway. Don't worry, you'll get used to it. It's the kangas you want to watch out for.‘
     ‘Kangas?’
     ‘Kangaroo. Screw.’

   • 2010 February 4, Michael Arditti, The Enemy of the Good‎^[4], Quercus Publishing, →ISBN, →OCLC:

     The kangas allow me the bottles for my ships.

   • 2013, Jonathan Asser, David Mackenzie, Starred Up‎^[5], spoken by Neville Love (Ben Mendelsohn):

     They will f***ing dangle you, the kangas. [They'll] make it look like suicide.

   • 2017 April 27, Kate Dunn, The Dragonfly‎^[6], Aurora Metro Publications Ltd., →ISBN, →OCLC:

     Even the diversionary fracas on the far side of the room failed to divert him, although the kangas went racing across to deal with it — there was always some kind of a dust up going on.

Anagrams

• Kagan, kagan, nagak, ngaka

Abidji

Noun

kanga

1. crab

References

• Moïse Adjèbè Aka, Émile Yédé N’guessan, Jonas N’guessan et Chantal Tresbarats, Syllabaire abidji, Abidjan, Les nouvelles éditions africaines, coll. « Je lis ma langue », 1984.

Anyi

Noun

kanga

1. crab

Bangi

Etymology 1

Inherited from Proto-Bantu *-kàng.

Verb

kanga

1. to take, to catch
2. to close
3. to lock

Etymology 2

Inherited from Proto-Bantu *-káng, a variant of Proto-Bantu *-kádanga.

Verb

kanga

1. to fry
2. to roast

Baoule

Noun

kanga

1. crab

Bongo

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kàᵑɡà/

Noun

kanga

1. ostrich

References

• Moi, Daniel Rabbi and Mario Lau Babur Kuduku, Sister Mary Mangira Michael, Simon Hagimir John, Rapheal Zakenia Paul Mafoi, Nyoul Gulluma Kuduku. 2018. Bongo – English Dictionary. Juba, South Sudan. SIL-South Sudan.

Cebuano

Pronunciation

• Hyphenation: ka‧nga

Noun

kanga

1. (pathology) leprosy

Japanese

Romanization

kanga

1. Rōmaji transcription of かんが

Kituba

Verb

kanga

1. to pack
2. to close

Kongo

Verb

kanga

1. to pack
2. to close

Verb

kanga

1. to fry

Lingala

Etymology

Borrowed from Bangi kanga.

Verb

-kanga (infinitive kokanga)

1. to catch
2. to close
3. to lock
4. to pack

Luba-Kasai

Verb

kanga

1. to fry

Māori

Etymology

From Proto-Eastern Polynesian *kaŋa (“put a curse on someone”).

Verb

kanga (passive kangaa or kangahia or kangaia)

1. to curse, to swear

Noun

kanga

1. cursing
2. swear word

Further reading

• “kanga” in John C. Moorfield, Te Aka: Maori–English, English–Maori Dictionary and Index, 3rd edition, Longman/Pearson Education New Zealand, 2011, →ISBN.

Old Tupi

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Tupi-Guarani *kaŋ, from Proto-Tupian *kaŋ.

Cognate with Mbya Guarani kã.

Noun

kanga (possessable)

1. bone (component of a skeleton)
   • 1618, Antônio de Araújo, chapter IX, in Cateciſmo na Lingoa Braſilica [Catechism in the Brazilian Language], Livro Terceiro do Cathecismo, e summa da Doctrina Christam […] (overall work in Old Tupi, Portuguese, and Latin), Lisbon: Pedro Crasbeeck, page 62v:

     M. O atá yepé cerà y ij bà mocõya ita pigoâ coaráma rece?
     D. Oatá yepè.
     M. Marãpe ibiâ cerecou, ymondîca potà?
     D. Opaçama pupè yapitiũcequicequij etebo ycanga yeptâçába peabo oyo çuî.

     [M[estre]: O[gû]atá îepé serã i îybá mokõîa itapygûá soarama resé?
     D[iscípulo] O[gû]atá îepé.
     M[estre]: Marãpe ybŷá serekóû i mondyka potá?
     D[iscípulo]: Opá sama pupé i apytĩû sekyîsekyîetébo i kanga îepotasaba pe'abo o îosuí.]

     Master: Was his arm too short to reach the place where the nails would go?
     Disciple: It was.
     Master: What did they do, wanting to draw them closer?
     Disciple: With a whole rope they tied it, pulling it a lot and separating its bones from their joints.

2. frame (structural elements of a building or other constructed object)
   • 1622, anonymous author, “Madeira, ou madeiramento pa. casas ou de casas.”, in Vocabulario na lingoa Braſilica, volume 2 (overall work in Old Tupi and Portuguese), Piratininga, page 27; republished as Carlos Drummond, editor, Vocabulário na Língua Brasílica, 2nd edition, São Paulo: USP, 1953:

     Ocanga.

     [Okanga.]

     House frame.

Related terms

• akanga
• arukanga
• kang
• kangûera
• pepokanga
• pynhûãkanga
• sûasukanga
• ymãkanga
• îybakanga
• îybapekanga

References

• Navarro, Eduardo de Almeida (2013), “kanga”, in Dicionário de tupi antigo: a língua indígena clássica do Brasil [Dictionary of Old Tupi: The Classical Indigenous Language of Brazil ] (overall work in Portuguese), São Paulo: Global, →ISBN, page 216, column 1

Shona

Etymology

From Proto-Bantu *-kánga.

Verb

-kángá (infinitive kukángá)

1. to fry

Swahili

FWOTD – 14 June 2020

Alternative forms

• khanga

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Bantu *nkángà.

Pronunciation

• (Unguja standard) IPA^(key): /ˈkɑ.ᵑɡɑ/

• Audio (Kenya):

  (file)

Noun

kanga class IX (plural kanga class X)

1. kanga (garment)
2. guinea fowl
   • 2005, Masomo ya Msingi 8‎^[7], →ISBN, page 21:

     Huyu kanga nitamla peke yangu.

     This guinea fowl will eat it alone.

Descendants

• → English: kanga
• → Malagasy: akanga

Yoruba

Alternative forms

• kànǹga

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kã̀.ɡā/

Noun

kànga

1. water well, a shallow well

Synonyms

Yoruba varieties and languages: kànga (“well”)
view map; edit data
Language family	Variety group	Variety/language	Subdialect	Location	Words
Proto-Itsekiri-SEY	Southeast Yoruba	Eastern Àkókó	Ọ̀bà	Ọ̀bà Àkókó	kọ̀nga
		Ìkálẹ̀ (Ùkálẹ̀)			kànga
			Òkìtìpupa		kànga
		Oǹdó			kànga
			Oǹdó		kànga
	Ìtsẹkírì				ẹgé
		Ìwẹrẹ			ẹgé
	Olùkùmi				úharì
		Ugbódù			úharì
Proto-Yoruba	Central Yoruba	Èkìtì	Èkìtì	Ìfàkì Èkìtì	kànga
	Northwest Yoruba	Èkó			kànga, kànǹga
			Èkó		kànga, kànǹga
		Ìlọrin			kànga, kànǹga
			Ìlọrin		kànga, kànǹga
		Oǹkó	Òtù		kẹ̀nga
			Ìwéré Ilé		kẹ̀nga
			Òkèhò		kẹ̀nga
			Ìsẹ́yìn		kẹ̀nga
			Ṣakí		kẹ̀nga
			Tedé		kẹ̀nga
			Ìgbẹ́tì		kẹ̀nga
		Ọ̀yọ́			kànga, kànǹga
			Ọ̀yọ́		kànga, kànǹga
		Standard Yorùbá	Nàìjíríà		kànga, kànǹga
			Bɛ̀nɛ̀		kànga, kànǹga
	Northeast Yoruba/Okun	Owé			gbòga
			Kabba		gbòga
	Ede languages/Southwest Yoruba	Ọ̀họ̀rí/Ɔ̀hɔ̀rí-Ìjè	Kétu/Ànàgó	Ìmẹ̀kọ	kànga
				Kétu	kànga
		Ifɛ̀	Akpáré		kàga
			Atakpamɛ		kàga
			Tchetti (Tsɛti, Cɛti)		kàga
Note: This amalgamation of terms comes from a number of different academic papers focused on the unique varieties and languages spoken in the Yoruboid dialectal continuum which extends from eastern Togo to southern Nigeria. The terms for spoken varieties, now deemed dialects of Yorùbá in Nigeria (i.e. Southeast Yorùbá, Northwest Yorùbá, Central Yorùbá, and Northeast Yorùbá), have converged with those of Standard Yorùbá leading to the creation of what can be labeled Common Yorùbá (Funṣọ Akere, 1977). It can be assumed that the Standard Yorùbá term can also be used in most Nigerian varieties alongside native terms, especially amongst younger speakers. This does not apply to the other Nigerian Yoruboid languages of Ìṣẹkírì and Olùkùmi, nor the Èdè Languages of Benin and Togo.

Derived terms

• kànga ẹlẹ́rọ (“deepwell”)
• kànga ìgbàlódé (“deepwell”)
• kàngádẹ̀rọ (“borehole, electric well”)