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pagne

American  
[pan-yuh] / ˈpan jə /

noun

pagnes plural
  1. a garment worn by some African peoples, consisting of a rectangular strip of cloth fashioned into a loincloth or wrapped on the body so as to form a short skirt.


Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

Etymology

Origin of pagne

1690–1700; < French < Spanish paño cloth ≪ Latin pannum

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.

See Examples For:

Many of the women wore dresses and skirts made of pagne, a wax print fabric, featuring images of Francis or other religious symbols.

From Washington Times Feb. 1, 2023

Many of the women wore dresses and skirts made of pagne, a wax print fabric featuring images of Francis or other religious symbols.

From Seattle Times Feb. 1, 2023

One mother was in a gorgeous red- and-green pagne wrap, her sons drowning in suits whose shoulder pads hung around their elbows.

From "Endangered" by Eliot Schrefer

It would also be useful; a pagne could be worn as clothing, tied to bundle a baby — or a bonobo — onto your back, or serve as a ground cloth for sleeping.

From "Endangered" by Eliot Schrefer

I heard a roar, which I suppose was me, and then Nataniel was here with us, bloodying a clean white shirt of Anatole’s and an old, soft pagne printed with yellow birds.

From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver

There was a sudden colorful bustle through the church as women in their bright pagnes began to move about.

From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver

The women wrap and rewrap their pagnes in the same way, and press the palm-oil harvest in the same kind of contraption that Mama Lo used.

From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver

Anatole wrapped me up in wax-print pagnes, hoping to disguise me as a Congolese matron while trying to keep me from staggering dazed in front of automobiles.

From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver

We wrapped ourselves in the extra pagnes offered to us as blankets, and settled down on the floor to sleep among strangers.

From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver

Mostly young children and women with their pagnes in tatters, they come soundlessly out of the forest, landing here as lightly as weary butterflies after years of fleeing the war.

From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver

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