What is "palagi"

n. (context Western Polynesia New Zealand English) A white person; a Caucasian.

Palagi (pronounced paalangi - singular) or papaalagi (plural) is a term in Samoan culture of uncertain meaning, sometimes used to describe foreigners or anything that does not belong to Samoan culture. Tent and Geraghty (2001) comment that the origin of the Western Polynesian Papāalagi~Pālagi and the Fijian Vāvālagi~Pāpālagi remains a matter of speculation.

Papāalagi~Pālagi is a word in the Samoan language describing non-Samoans especially European westerners or Caucasians. In Samoa the term is used to describe foreigners or anything that does not belong to Samoa or Samoan culture. The word is both a noun e.g. a Palagi (European person) or an adjective e.g. Palagi house (non-traditional Samoan house). The word is a cognate in other Polynesian languages and has gained widespread use throughout much of western Polynesia, including in Tokelau, Tuvalu, 'Uvea and Futuna.

Written Pālagi or Papālagi in Samoan, and Papālangi or Pālangi in Tongan, the term Pālagi is also used in Niuean.