tonga

¹

[tong-guh]

noun

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

Tonga

²

[tong-guh]

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

/ 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

/ 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

/ ˈtɒŋɡə /

noun

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of tonga¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of tonga¹

C19: from Hindi tāngā

Example Sentences

World Rugby will be launching a "second division" version of the tournament and, while there is no prospect of relegation or promotion between the two, it is hoped up-and-coming nations such as Georgia, Spain and Uruguay, ranked 11th, 14th and 15th respectively, and the likes of Samoa, Tonga and the United States will benefit from games against top-tier nations on years when the Nations Championship is not being staged.

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Wing Fainga'anuku, whose father gave him the middle name Twickenham before playing at the stadium for Tonga in the 1999 World Cup, made himself at home, muscling over after 14 minutes in his team's first real attack.

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The worst-case scenario - should Wales lose to Japan and drop to 13th in the rankings - would be coming out of the hat in a group made up of South Africa, Argentina and Tonga.

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St Helens prop Matty Lees, meanwhile, points to domestic results and England's showings in clean-sweep series wins over Tonga and Samoa since the last World Cup in 2022.

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"But we need to get closer internationally; we were going the right way against Tonga and Samoa, and we have got better each game against Australia. It is going the right way."

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