English
lavalava
Lavalava comes from Samoan lava-lava, and goes back to Proto-Polynesian *lawa₃ ‘loincloth, skirt’.
- Proto-Polynesianprehistoric (reconstructed)*lawa₃‘loincloth, skirt’reconstructed
- Samoanmodernlava-lava
- Englishearliest quotation 1997lavalava
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Polynesianprehistoric (reconstructed)*lawa₃‘loincloth, skirt’reconstructed
- Samoanmodernlava-lava
- Englishearliest quotation 1997lavalava
Earliest quotation: 1997, Michel Picard, Robert Everett Wood: “Some tourists buy Samoan identity merchandise as novelties, but…”
Every English word from Proto-Polynesian *lawa₃
Today it means
noun An everyday item of clothing traditionally worn by Polynesians and other Oceanic peoples, consisting of a single rectangular cloth worn as a skirt, secured around the waist by an overhand knotting of the upper corners.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Polynesian *lawa₃ / lavalava