tanga

T1A1N1G2A1

noun

Any of various former Asian coins, including: a coin of Portuguese India worth one tenth of a rupee; a gold coin of India issued by various Muslim rulers; a silver coin of India, also issued by Muslim rulers; and a former silver coin of Tibet.

Less commonScrabble 6

Meanings

tanga1

nountanga (plural tangas)

plural tangas

  1. historicalAny of various former Asian coins, including: a coin of Portuguese India worth one tenth of a rupee; a gold coin of India issued by various Muslim rulers; a silver coin of India, also issued by Muslim rulers; and a former silver coin of Tibet.

    The prices range from 120 tangas = Rupees 25 to 400 tangas = Rupees 80.

    1875, Report of a Mission to Yarkund in 1873, under command of Sir T[homas] D. Forsyth, page 73
    4 more examples

    The larines are woorth by just value basaruchies 93 and 3 fourth parts, and 4 larines make a seraphine of siluer, which is 5 tangas of good money, and these also haue serafagion of 6, 7, 8, 10, vntil 16, by the 100, for when the ships depart for the North, to say, for Chaul, Diu, Cambaia, or Bassaim, all cary of the same, because it is money more currant then any other.

    1810, Richard Haklvyt, Hakluyt's Collection of the Early Voyages, Travels, and DIscoveries of the English Nation- Volume 2, page 410

    The first and largest item is, the purchase of a wife, 25 rupees. Culinary and other utensils.--Bedding, 6 rupees; antimony for the lady's eyes, 3 tangas : an iron boiler, 2 rupees; a wooden bowl and spoons, 3 tangas; ....

    1841, The Literary Gazette and Journal of the Belles Lettres, page 136

    Three-sevenths, or 300,000 tangas (100,000 Kabul rupees) were remitted to the Amir as tribute, whilst the remaining sum, 400,000 tangas (Rs. 133,333), was retained by the wali for his own expenses.

    1996, Jonathan L. Lee, The "Ancient Supremacy":, →ISBN

    The Samarkand tangas were initially 916 carats, and then rose to 960 carats. Lower-carat tangas were issued in Balkh (875 carats, 916 carats) and in Tashkent. Nevertheless, even the tangas issued under Iskandar Khan are referred to in documentary sources as 'pure'.

    2003, Ahmad Hasan Dani, Vadim Mikhaĭlovich Masson, History of Civilizations of Central Asia, →ISBN

tanga2

nountanga (plural tangas)

plural tangas

  1. A pair of tanga briefs.

Tanga3

proper noun
  1. A city and port, the capital of the Tanga Region, Tanzania.

Origin

tanga · noun

  1. Kimbundutanga
  2. Portuguesetanga
  3. Englishtanga

From Portuguese tanga, from Kimbundu tanga or ntanga (“coarse cloth; loincloth”).

Full word history & related roots →

Tanga · proper noun

  1. Swahilitanga
  2. Swahilitanga
  3. EnglishTanga

Derived from Swahili tanga (“sail”), from Proto-Sabaki *-canga, from Proto-Bantu *-cànga.

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

Cite this entry
APA

tanga. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tanga

MLA

“tanga.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tanga. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “tanga,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tanga.

Source: tanga on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.