papalagi
English
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editEtymology
editFrom Samoan papālagi, Tongan papālagi. Compare palagi.
Noun
editpapalagi (plural papalagis or papalagi)
- In Fiji, Tonga, Samoa and New Zealand, a white person; a palagi. [from 19th c.]
- 2020, Sujit Sivasundaram, Waves Across the South, William Collins, published 2021, page 53:
- Yet those whom the Tongas called papalangi, or men from the sky, introduced into these islands a new language of politics, class and organisation.
Samoan
editEtymology
editNoun
editpapalagi
Adjective
editpapalagi