la·va·la·va

or la·va-la·va (lä′və-lä′və)

A garment consisting of a rectangular piece of printed cloth tied loosely around the waist that is worn by Polynesians and especially Samoans.

[Samoan lāvalava, to put on clothes, clothes, from reduplication of Proto-Polynesian *lawa, to bind.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

la•va•la•va

or la•va-la•va

(ˌlɑ vəˈlɑ və)

n., pl. -vas.

the principal garment for both sexes in Polynesia, esp. in Samoa, consisting of a piece of printed cloth worn as a loincloth or skirt.

Also called pareu.

[1890–95; < Samoan: clothing]

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun

lavalava - a skirt consisting of a rectangle of calico or printed cotton; worn by Polynesians (especially Samoans)

skirt - a garment hanging from the waist; worn mainly by girls and women

Mentioned in

References in periodicals archive

The native dress was a lavalava, which RLS translated as kilt.

Stevenson's treasured islands; THE BIG READ HOW SCOTLAND'S MOST FAMOUS WRITER FELL IN LOVE WITH SAMOA Robert Louis Stevenson was born and raised in Edinburgh but the novelist spent his later years and died in Samoa. Scots writer JOE FARRELL tells of Stevenson's adventures and final days in the south Pacific in his new book Robert Louis Stevenson in Samoa

In discussing the text Lavalava, teachers described how the book title invoked 'an immediate connection'.

Teachers' selection of texts for Pasifika students in New Zealand primary schools

The annoying call of the itchy bites around her ankles, the slight incipient island belly edging over Julian's lavalava, the way he chewed too far forward in his mouth, the shrill of Linda Ronstadt on the radio, the ...

Hidden Treasure

A hand-printed Samoan lavalava and Cook Island e'i (flower head wreath) was placed on her coffin as a mark of respect.

Lythgoe remembered as a respected nursing elder

The ballot boxes and polling material were loaded into the boat, and it was then that I first caught sight of the Tokelauan policemen, dressed in the whitest of uniforms: white British colonial police hat; white policeman's shirt; and white lavalava (traditional skirt).

At the end of the day: diary of an international election observer in Tokelau

It would be polite to wear a lavalava all the time, whether going to church or going swimming?

Travels with the war goddess: embedded journalism in a Samoan drug-discovery expedition

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