Panga

Pronunciation

• UK IPA: /ˈpaÅ‹É¡É™/
• US IPA: /ˈpæŋɡə/

From Swahili panga ("machete").

Full definition of panga

Noun

1. (East Africa, South Africa) A large broad-bladed knife.
• 1967, Ngugi wa Thiong'o, A Grain of Wheat, EAEP 2008, p. 77:She turned to the small basket she was carrying and took out a panga.
• 1994, Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom, Abacus 2010, p. 690:I pleaded with them to lay down their arms, to take each other's hands in peace: ‘Take your guns, your knives and your pangas, and throw them into the sea!’

Back-formation from the plural, from the stem of New Latin Pangasius (genus name), from Bengali (pāNāś, "mud-coloured fish"), ultimatey from Sanskrit (paNka, "mud").

Noun

1. Any of various edible freshwater fish of the genus Pangasius, native to southeast Asia, especially the iridescent shark, , now reclassified as .
2. A type of modest-sized, open, outboard-powered, fishing boat common throughout much of the developing world, including Central America, the Caribbean, parts of Africa, the Middle East, and much of Asia.

From Spanish panga ("motorboat").

Noun

1. A small inflatable motorboat used in Latin America.

Anagrams

• pagan, Pagan