panga

1 of 2

noun (1)

pan·ga ˈpäŋ-gə

plural pangas

: any of various small boats often used for fishing

specifically : a skiff with a raised bow that is typically powered by an outboard motor

The water was an ever-shifting palette of blues and greens as we motored across Ascension Bay in a 23-foot panga, the de facto fishing craft for these parts. —

Chris Santella

panga

2 of 2

Examples of panga in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Noun

The boats used are often small pangas that typically are overloaded with people and poorly maintained. —

Michael Smolens, San Diego Union-Tribune, 19 Apr. 2024 The ship sails three routes, taking eight to 15 days, and guests get plenty of snorkeling, hiking, kayaking, and panga rides along the way. —

Karen Catchpole, Travel + Leisure, 7 Feb. 2024 The panga was spotted around 7 a.m. by someone who notified federal agents, and lifeguards responded to the disabled craft, said Border Patrol spokesperson Eric Lavergne. —

Karen Kucher, San Diego Union-Tribune, 1 Feb. 2024 According to documents filed in the case, Preciado is a fisherman who was recruited to captain the panga because of his boating skills. —

Alex Riggins, San Diego Union-Tribune, 15 Dec. 2023 See all Example Sentences for panga

Word History

Etymology

Noun (1)

probably borrowed from Panamanian Spanish; further origin uncertain

Note: Early citations for panga in English localize the word around the Panama Canal Zone (see, for example, John Edwin Hoag, "Outboard Motoring through the Panama Canal," Motor Boating, vol. 35, no. 1 [January, 1925], p. 284. "With our little fifteen foot panga (Spanish for rowboat) we got about into the middle of Gatun Lake around 2 P.M…"). There appears to be minimal evidence for the word in American Spanish earlier than the middle of the twentieth century. Augusto Malaret enters the word in the supplement (1942) to his Diccionario de Americanismos with the definition "bote, lancha" ("boat, launch") citing a Panamanian informant. In Philippine Spanish the word panga has a much longer documentation. Wenceslao Emilio Retana's Diccionario de Filipinismos (New York/Paris, 1921) defines panga as "embarcación, especie de baroto, bien acabada y ligera, que navega a remo y a la vela" ("boat, a kind of baroto [large dugout canoe], well-finished and light, that is directed by oar and by sail"); his earliest citation for the word, which he claims is of Tagalog origin, is from Juan de la Concepción's Historia general de Philipinas (Manila, 1788). The Oxford English Dictionary, third edition, conflates panga with American Spanish bongo, a widespread word from the Gulf of Mexico to Chile for various small river and coastal craft, though panga and bongo appear to be quite distinct in distribution, and it remains to be proven that they are of common origin. Regarding bongo, first attested in 1748, see further Nicolás del Castillo Mathieu, "El aporte negro-africano al léxico de Colombia," Encuentro Internacional sobre el español de América hacia el siglo XXI, vol. 2 (Bogotá, 1992), pp. 41-99. Castillo Mathieu believes, on rather slim evidence, that bongo is of African origin.

Noun (2)

Swahili

First Known Use

Noun (1)

1811, in the meaning defined above

Noun (2)

1925, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler

The first known use of panga was in 1811

See more words from the same year

Cite this Entry

Style

“Panga.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/panga. Accessed 22 Nov. 2024.

Copy Citation

Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.

Can you solve 4 words at once?

Word of the Day

paroxysm

See Definitions and Examples »

Get Word of the Day daily email!

panga

noun (1)

noun (2)

Examples of panga in a Sentence

Word History

Dictionary Entries Near panga