Definition

1. Noun:
   • A paperlike cloth made in the Pacific islands: "Tappa" refers to a type of cloth traditionally made by soaking and beating the inner bark of certain trees.
   • The thin fibrous bark used to make this cloth: "Tappa" can also refer specifically to the raw bark material itself, particularly from the paper mulberry tree.

Examples

• Noun (Cloth):

  • The museum displayed a beautiful piece of decorated tappa.
  • Traditional garments were often made from tappa.

• Noun (Bark):

  • The process begins by harvesting the tappa from the tree.
  • They soaked the tappa to soften the fibers before beating it.

Advanced Usage

• Cultural Artifact: In anthropological contexts, "tappa" refers to a significant cultural material used for clothing, blankets, and ceremonial artifacts in Polynesian and Melanesian societies.
  • The ceremonial tappa was inscribed with traditional patterns.

Variants and Related Words

• Tapa: This is a more common modern spelling variant of "tappa".
  • Tapa cloth is still produced for cultural ceremonies.

Synonyms

• Bark cloth: A direct descriptive synonym for the cloth made from tappa.
• Kapa: The Hawaiian term for the same type of cloth.

Noun

1. a paperlike cloth made in the South Pacific by pounding tapa bark
2. the thin fibrous bark of the paper mulberry and Pipturus albidus