Meanings
plural nakamals
- A traditional meeting house or gathering place in Vanuatu, used for community meetings, ceremonies, and the drinking of kava.
In many areas of Vanuatu, this is a large building that functions as a meeting house, while in the south, it is often a cleared area under a large banyan tree; there is often restricted access to a nakamal or certain parts of a nakamal affecting women and men of low status.
2003, Crowley, Terry, A New Bislama Dictionary, 2nd edition, Suva, Fiji: Institute of Pacific Studies, →ISBN, page 174
Origin
- Ragana gamali
- Bislamanakamal
- Englishnakamal
Borrowed from Bislama nakamal, ultimately from a substrate language, such as Raga na gamali.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
nakamal. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/nakamal
“nakamal.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/nakamal. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “nakamal,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/nakamal.
Source: nakamal on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.