Jump To:

• tonga
  tonga

  noun

  a light, two-wheeled, horse-drawn vehicle used in India.
• Tonga
  Tonga

  noun

  a Polynesian kingdom consisting of three groups of islands in the S Pacific, NE of New Zealand: a former British protectorate. About 270 sq. mi. (700 sq. km). Nukualofa.

tonga

¹ American  

[tong-guh] / ˈtɒŋ gə /

noun

1. a light, two-wheeled, horse-drawn vehicle used in India.

---

Tonga ² American  

[tong-guh] / ˈtɒŋ gə /

noun

1. a Polynesian kingdom consisting of three groups of islands in the S Pacific, NE of New Zealand: a former British protectorate. About 270 sq. mi. (700 sq. km). Nukualofa.

---

Tonga ¹ British  

/ ˈtɒŋə, ˈtɒŋɡə /

noun

1. a member of a Negroid people of S central Africa, living chiefly in Zambia and Zimbabwe

2. the language of this people, belonging to the Bantu group of the Niger-Congo family

---

Tonga ² British  

/ ˈtɒŋə, ˈtɒŋɡə /

noun

1. Also called: Friendly Islands.  a kingdom occupying an archipelago of more than 150 volcanic and coral islands in the SW Pacific, east of Fiji: inhabited by Polynesians; became a British protectorate in 1900 and gained independence in 1970; a member of the Commonwealth. Official languages: Tongan and English. Religion: Christian majority. Currency: pa'anga. Capital: Nuku'alofa. Pop: 106 322 (2013 est). Area: 750 sq km (290 sq miles)

---

tonga ³ British  

/ ˈtɒŋɡə /

noun

1. a light two-wheeled vehicle used in rural areas of India

---

Etymology

Origin of tonga

First recorded in 1870–75, tonga is from the Hindi word tāṅgā

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

tonga Tonga

I suppose their might be a risk of some of the potential GB players competing for their home countries - tonga, samoa, south africa, new zealand, holland etc. but i'm sure it'll be good.

From The Guardian ● Aug. 7, 2012

"Na, na, damchee, na, na, damchee! " wailed the tongawalla to a British officer, who was trying to rent his two-wheeled tonga at an air base in India.

From Time Magazine Archive

"We will now," said the driver, not deigning to notice the Englishman who had been on guard over the mails, "put the Sirkar's mail into this tonga and go forward."

From From Sea to Sea Letters of Travel by Rudyard Kipling

At each sharp turn, with its sheer drop of a hundred feet or more on the outside, the tonga swung around, careening to one of its two wheels, the other spinning idly in the air.

From The Three Sapphires by W. A. Fraser

The Thakur put his head out of the tonga and spoke shrilly in Mewari.

From From Sea to Sea Letters of Travel by Rudyard Kipling

"She has led major international initiatives on sustainable development and dialog among cultures, bridging Latin America, the Arab world, Africa and Europe," Tonga wrote.

From Barron's ● Aug. 18, 2026

During the Tonga eruption, massive amounts of salty seawater were blasted into the stratosphere together with volcanic ash.

From Science Daily ● May 10, 2026

Tonga Nolan grew up in a predominantly Black neighborhood on the north side of Baton Rouge and remembers it fondly as a tight-knit community.

From Salon ● May 10, 2026

England's first match at the Rugby World Cup, a pool-stage meeting with Tonga in Brisbane, is less than 16 months away.

From BBC ● May 5, 2026

Specialization increased on larger, more densely populated islands, reaching a peak on Samoa, the Societies, and especially Tonga and Hawaii.

From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond