ponga

See also: pōnga

English

Ponga (Alsophila dealbata)

Alternative forms

• punga

Etymology

Borrowed from Māori ponga.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈpɒŋə/

Noun

ponga (plural pongas)

1. A medium-sized tree fern endemic to New Zealand, of species Alsophila tricolor (syns .Alsophila dealbata, Cyathea dealbata et al.).
   • 1972, James K. Baxter, ‘He Waiata mo Te Kare’, Selected Poems, Te Herenga Waka University Press 2023, p. 265:

     Hilltop behind hilltop, / A mile of green pungas / In the grey afternoon / Bow their heads to the slanting spears of rain.

   • 2003, Michael King, The Penguin History of Aotearoa New Zealand, Penguin, published 2023, page 232:

     Ponga logs tended to be used vertically for house walls on the mainland and horizontally (a style known as wakawaka) on the Chatham Islands.

Synonyms

• silver fern

Anagrams

• go nap

Italian

Verb

ponga

1. inflection of porre:
   1. first/second/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative

Māori

Noun

ponga

1. silver fern (Alsophila dealbata)

   Synonym: kaponga

Derived terms

• heka-ponga
• whekī ponga

Descendants

• → English: ponga, punga

References

• Biggs, Bruce [Grandison] (1990), English–Maori, Maori–English Dictionary‎^[1], Auckland University Press, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, →OL, EBSCOhost edsebk, Goodreads, Google Books, Library Thing, Nexus/STC, page 123
• Williams, William (1852), “ponga”, in A Dictionary of the New Zealand Language, and a Concise Grammar; to Which is Added a Selection of Colloquial Sentences, 2nd edition, London: Williams and Norgate, page 124: “Pónga, s. A fern tree. (Cyathea dealbata.)”

Spanish

Verb

ponga

1. inflection of poner:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative