‖ lungi
(ˈlʊngiː)
Also 7 lung, lunga, longee, longi, 7–9 lungee, lungie, lungy, 9 loongee, loonghie, lunggi, 20 longyi, lungyi.
[Urdū (Persian) lungī, f. lung of the same meaning. Cf. langooty.]
A loin cloth. Also, the material of which this is made.
| 1634 Sir T. Herbert Trav. 197 A lung or cover to conceale their privy members. 1662 J. Davies tr. Mandelslo's Trav. i. (1669) 49 Some Cotton-cloaths..of those kinds which are commonly called Dosternals,..Longis, Allegiens, &c. 1698 Fryer Acc. E. India & P. 53 The Peer as well as Peasant, wrapping only a Lunga about his Middle. Ibid. 101 The Men and Women came down together to wash, having Lungies about their wastes only. 1727 A. Hamilton New Acc. E. Ind. I. xxiv. 294 His Dress was only a Silk Lungie or Scarf made fast by a Girdle of Gold Plate, about his Middle. 1779 Forrest Voy. N. Guinea 229 Cloth..made in the form of a Bengal lungy, or Buggess cloth. c 1809–10 F. Buchanan Puraniya III. 101 The Lunggi..is wrapped simply two or three times round the waist, and hangs down to the knee. 1835 A. Burnes Trav. Bokhara (ed. 2) I. 52 He wore a very handsome loongee round his waist. 1882 Caulfield & Saward Dict. Needlework, Loonghie, a mixed fabric composed of richly coloured silk and cotton. 1901 Daily News 9 Jan. 3/5 Indian soldiers..wearing lungis of beautifully woven silk. 1906 W. del Mar Romantic East i. 8 The lungyi..whenever the wearer can afford it, is of thin silk and is simply a square of about five feet..put on like a petticoat and folded in over the right hip. 1908 H. Jones Let. 2 May in H. J. W. Hetherington Life & Lett. Sir H. Jones (1924) ii. 203 The boxers, all naked except for their ornamental silk longyis tied up hard between their legs and around their middle. 1934 [see Arakanese a. and n.]. 1947 ‘N. Shute’ Chequer Board 105 A green longyi wrapped around her waist and falling to her feet. 1948 Amer. Speech XXIII. 228/2 Longyi, lungyi, Burmese skirtlike attire which falls to the ankles. The national dress, worn by both sexes. 1957 R. Mason World of Suzie Wong ii. ii. 17 A Burmese woman..with her bright red longyi taut over her thighs. 1959 Times 19 Mar. 14/6 The Burmese in their gaily coloured lungyis. 1959 Ibid. 10 Dec. 11/2 Burma, where men wear the longyi. 1971 Nat. Geographic Mar. 304/2 He wears the Burmese national costume, a wrap-around skirt called a longyi, derived from India, and a short formal jacket with three pockets and cloth buttons, derived from China. |