tonga

From Hindi टाँगा (ṭāṅgā).

• tanga

tonga (plural tongas)

1. (India) A light, two-wheeled, horse-drawn carriage used for transportation in India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh.
   • 1890, Rudyard Kipling, Plain Tales from the Hills:

     Coming up along the Cart-Road a tonga passed me, and my pony, tired with standing so long, set off at a canter.

   • 1924, EM Forster, A Passage to India, Penguin, published 2005, page 13:

     When his tyre went flat, he leapt off and shouted for a tonga.

   • 1972, Abulhasan 'Ali Nadvi, The Musalman, page 42:

     The Muslim ladies who earlier moved out in covered palanquins, dolis and muhafas or completely veiled coaches and victorias are now obliged to go about in tongas, rikshaws and buses leaving aside the earlier scruples.

From Tonga.

tonga (uncountable)

1. (medicine) A drug useful in neuralgia, derived from a Fijian plant supposed to be of the aroid genus Epipremnum.

• tonga bean

• Atong, on tag, tag on, tango

Inherited from Latin tunica. Doublet of túnica, a learned borrowing.

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic)
• IPA^(key): (Valencia)

tonga f (plural tongues)

1. (historical) a form of tunic worn by Catalan Jews during the Middle Ages

• tongada

• caftà

• “tonga” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

< Tonga

• IPA^(key): /ˈtoŋːɑ/,
• Rhymes: -oŋːɑ
• Syllabification^(key): ton‧ga
• Hyphenation^(key): ton‧ga

tonga

1. Tongan (language)

• tango, togan

From Proto-Bantu *-tʊ́nga.

-tonga (infinitive kotonga)

1. to sew, to mend
2. to build

• -tónga

tonga

1. arrived

The talisman sense comes from Etymology 1 of the word.

tonga

1. (Mahafaly, Sakalava) a charm or talisman believed to bring one safely to their destination
2. (by extension) a plant used to make this talisman, the blue porterweed (Stachytarpheta jamaicensis)
3. (Antanosy) rosy periwinkle (Catharanthus roseus)
4. (Bara) Catharanthus longifolius

Inherited from Proto-Polynesian *toŋa (“south wind”), possibly from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *təŋaq (“centre”).

No words for the cardinal directions can be unambiguously reconstructed for Proto-Polynesian, as there would be little use for them on the small Polynesian islands. However, on the much larger North Island (Te Ika-a-Māui) and South Island (Te Waipounamu) of New Zealand, the usefulness of such terminology led the Māori to adopt this word for "south".

tonga

1. south

   Synonyms: taitonga, (obsolete) hauta

compass points:  

tapatapātiu	tokerau raki	kārapu
uru		rāwhiti
uru-mā-tonga	tonga	pitonga

tonga f

1. definite singular of tong

• Hyphenation: ton‧ga

tonga

1. feminine singular of tongo

tonga m (uncountable)

1. Tongan (Austronesian language spoken in Tonga)

   Synonym: tonganês

tonga f (plural tongas)

1. female equivalent of tongo

tonga f (plural tongas)

1. (Angola) land for farming

tonga

1. a kind of yam

From Proto-Tungusic *tuńga. Cognate with Evenki тунӈа (tunŋa), Even ту̇нӈа̇н (tu̇nŋȧn), Oroqen tʊŋŋa, Manchu ᠰᡠᠨᠵᠠ (sunja).

This entry needs pronunciation information. If you are familiar with the IPA then please add some!

tonga

1. five

• IPA^(key): /ˈtonɡa/
• Rhymes: -onɡa
• Syllabification: ton‧ga

Inherited from Latin tunica. Doublet of túnica, a borrowing.

tonga f (plural tongas)

1. coating (thin outer layer)

   Synonym: tongada

2. (Argentina, Colombia) task, job
3. (Canary Islands, Cuba) heap, pile

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

tonga m or f by sense (plural tongas)

1. a member of the Tonga people of southern Africa

Borrowed from Tongan Tonga, from Samoan toga (“southern”).

tonga m or f by sense (plural tongas)

1. Tongan (native or inhabitant of Tonga)

• “tonga”, in Diccionario de la lengua española (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy , 2024 December 10

Unknown.

tonga (definite accusative tongayı, plural tongalar)

1. (slang) cheating, trick