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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

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

Tonga ² American

[tong-guh] / ˈtɒŋ gə /

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 British

/ ˈtɒŋə, ˈtɒŋɡə /

noun

a member of a Negroid people of S central Africa, living chiefly in Zambia and Zimbabwe
the language of this people, belonging to the Bantu group of the Niger-Congo family

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Tonga ² British

/ ˈtɒŋə, ˈtɒŋɡə /

noun

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)

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

tonga ³ British

/ ˈtɒŋɡə /

noun

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

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of tonga

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

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

We spent years leaving medical records scattered from Tonga to Iceland; it’s time for a bit more continuity of care.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 22, 2026

Tourism makes up 25 percent of Samoa's GDP and 11 percent in Tonga.

From Barron's • Mar. 19, 2026

In September 2007, Moody faced Tonga in a must-win Rugby World Cup pool-stage match for England.

From BBC • Mar. 2, 2026

Senior Barstool producer TJ Hitchings was effusive about the city’s iconic Tonga Room, calling it “the best bar I’ve ever been to in my life.”

From Salon • Feb. 10, 2026

The importance of isolation is most obvious for Hawaii and Tonga, both of which were separated by at least 4,000 miles of ocean from the nearest societies with writing.

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

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023