pareu

American  

[pahr-ey-oo] / ˈpɑr eɪˌu /

noun

1. lavalava.

2. Also pareo a length of cloth, especially of a brightly colored print, wrapped on the body like a lavalava and worn by women as a cover-up, skirt, dress, or the like.

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pareu British  

/ ˈpɑːreɪˌuː /

noun

1. a rectangle of fabric worn by Polynesians as a skirt or loincloth

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Etymology

Origin of pareu

Borrowed into English from Tahitian around 1855–60

Example Sentences

Released in the U.S. last month, her two patterns, Aruhine and Pareu, offer a new vision of vahine identity.

From Seattle Times

A thin fringed towel, of the kind found at Turkish hammams, not only dries quickly but can also double as a colorful pareu or scarf.

From New York Times

Mr. Pottle's eyes fell on his own scarlet pareu and the brownish legs beneath it.

From Project Gutenberg

Wearing a varihued. skirtlike Tahitian pareu that he fancies, Bragg spent a happy hour emitting Tarzan yells and swinging from branch to branch.

From Time Magazine Archive

He came drifting through the moonlight with a wreath of green about his head, a flower chain over his broad, bare shoulders, clad only in a kilted white pareu—the very spirit of youth and strength and joyous, untrammeled freedom, stepped down from the days when Faunus himself walked abroad.

From Project Gutenberg