lavalava

[ lah-vuh-lah-vuh ]

/ ˌlɑ vəˈlɑ və /

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

Also called pareu.

Origin of lavalava

1890–95; < Samoan: clothing

All the men wore trousers, for the Church has decided that the lava-lava is indecent.

The Trembling of a Leaf |William Somerset Maugham
As a rule he wore shabby ducks, but now he was barefoot and wore only the lava-lava of the natives.

The Trembling of a Leaf |William Somerset Maugham
The truth is that a lava-lava and a coating of oil are much the most healthy and practical costume in a tropical climate.

Fifty-One Years of Victorian Life |Margaret Elizabeth Leigh Child-Villiers, Countess of Jersey
I am wearing only a lava-lava, and this faint sea-breeze blowing over me almost makes me forget the engines and their troubles.

Through the South Seas with Jack London |Martin Johnson

He passed two or three natives clad in nothing but the lava-lava, with huge umbrellas over them.

The Trembling of a Leaf |William Somerset Maugham

lava-lava

a draped skirtlike garment of printed cotton or calico worn by Polynesians

Samoan