Lamba
Alternative forms
- lamber (obsolete)
Origin
From Malagasy (Highlands dialect).
Full definition of lamba
Noun
- The traditional garment worn by men and women in Madagascar, consisting of a rectangular length of cloth wrapped around the body.
- 1743, Robert Drury, The Pleasant, and Surprizing Adventures of Mr. Robert Drury, during his Fifteen Years Captivity on the Island of Madagascar, London, p. 135,https://archive.org/details/pleasantandsurp00drurgoog... the Lances flew briskly at one another; one of which went thorow my Lamber, and scratch’d me ...
- 1870, James Sibree, Madagascar and its People, London: The Religious Tract Society, Chapter 17, p. 520,https://archive.org/details/madagascaritspeo00sibrI was, from the first, surprised by the reverent manner in which public worship is conducted—especially by the outward respect shown during prayer. Almost everyone has his face covered with the folds of the lamba, and even young children seem instinctively to know that prayer is a solemn act, and often lie at full length on the ground perfectly still, with their little heads covered by their dress.
- 2017, Colleen J. McElroy, Over the Lip of the World: Among the Storytellers of Madagascar, Seattle: University of Washington Press, Chapter 5, p. 99,https://books.google.ca/books?id=INgHCwAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=falseWind stirred the grass, leaving streaks of gold-green light, and the patterns of lambas on women coming home from the market took on the vividness of a Degas painting.