Punkah

Punkah

A punkah (Hindi "pankha") is a type of fan. In its original sense the punkah was a portable fan made from the leaf of the palmyra.

In the colonial age, the word came to be used in a special sense by Anglo-Indians in British India for a large swinging fan, fixed to the ceiling, and pulled by a coolie, called thepunkah wallah, during the hot weather. The date of this invention is not known, but it was familiar to the Arabs as early as the 8th century. The punkah was not commonly used in India before the end of the 18th century. The electric fan largely supplanted it in barracks and other large buildings at the beginning of the 20th century.

The term was carried over to "punkah louvre", to refer to the outlet for (cool) air in aircraft, particularly those over the passenger seats.

References

*1911


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  • punkah — or punka [puŋ′kə] n. [Hindi pankhā < Sans pakshaka, fan < paksha, wing] in India, a large fan made from the palmyra leaf, or a large, swinging fan consisting of canvas stretched over a rectangular frame and hung from the ceiling …   English World dictionary

  • Punkah — Moderner computergesteuerter Punkah Pankha (hindostani), auch Punkah, bezeichnet einen Fächerwedel. Ursprünglich war ein Pankha ein transportabler Fächer, der aus einem Palmyra oder Borassus Palmblatt hergestellt wurde. Diese Bezeichnung hat sich …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • punkah — /pung keuh/, n. 1. (esp. in India) a fan, esp. a large, swinging, screenlike fan hung from the ceiling and moved by a servant or by machinery. adj. 2. of, pertaining to, used on, or working a punkah: punkah ropes. Also, punka. [1615 25; < Hindi… …   Universalium

  • punkah — UK [ˈpʌŋkə] / US noun [countable] Word forms punkah : singular punkah plural punkahs Indian English old fashioned a piece of equipment used for making the air cold in a room. It consists of a large flat piece of cloth that hangs from the ceiling …   English dictionary

  • punkah — n. 1 (in India) a fan usu. made from the leaf of the palmyra. 2 a large swinging cloth fan on a frame worked by a cord or electrically. Phrases and idioms: punkah wallah a person who works a punkah. Etymology: Hindi pankha fan f. Skr. paksaka f.… …   Useful english dictionary

  • punkah — Punka Pun ka, n. [Hind. pankh[=a] fan.] A machine for fanning a room, usually a movable fanlike frame covered with canvas, and suspended from the ceiling. It is kept in motion by pulling a cord. [Hindostan] [Written also {punkah}.] Malcom. [1913… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • punkah — noun /ˈpʌŋkə,ˈpʌŋkɑː/ a large fan type, common on the Indian subcontinent, especially made from a leaf or from cloth, typically hung from the ceiling, designed to cool a room, often operated manually by a boy (servant) , 1973: Perhaps it was a… …   Wiktionary

  • punkah —   n. large fan, especially moved by rope.    ♦ punkah wallah, n. servant moving this …   Dictionary of difficult words

  • punkah wallah — /ˈpʌŋkə wɒlə/ (say pungkuh woluh) noun Indian English (formerly) a servant employed to operate a punkah (def. 1). Also, punkah wala. {punkah + wallah} …  

  • punkah wallah — ˈwälə noun : the operator of a punkah …   Useful english dictionary

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