weleti

Fijian

Alternative forms

• leweti (Lau)

Etymology

Borrowed from English Wellesley, from the ship's name General Wellesley (itself named after Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington), which brought papayas from Penang and landed in Vanua Levu in October 1808 to obtain local sandalwood there.

The term then spread to other Pacific languages around Fiji, such as Samoan ʻesi and Tongan lesi, after being introduced to the papaya plant.

Noun

weleti

1. papaya, pawpaw (Carica papaya)

   Synonyms: maoli, uto

   Au vinakata na weleti drokadroka.

   I like ripe papaya.

Descendants

• → Samoan: ʻesi
• → Tongan: lesi

References

• Gatty, Ronald (2009), “weleti”, in Fijian–English Dictionary‎^[1], Suva, Fiji: Ronald Gatty, →ISBN, page 322
• Langdon, Robert (April 1989), “The Secret History of the Papaw in the South Pacific: An Essay in Reconstruction”, in The Journal of Pacific History‎^[2], volume 24, number 1, pages 3-20