conga

English

Etymology

For the dance:

• Borrowed from Spanish Congo (“Congo dance”), so-called for being of sub-Saharan African origin.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈkɒŋɡə/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (US) enPR: kängʹgə, IPA^(key): /ˈkɑŋɡə/
• Rhymes: -ɒŋɡə
• Homophone: conger (non-rhotic)

Noun

conga (plural congas)

1. (music) A tall, narrow, single-headed Cuban hand drum of African origin.
2. (dance) A march of Cuban origin in four-four time in which people form a chain, each holding the hips of the person in front of them; in each bar, dancers take three shuffle steps and then kick alternate legs outwards at the beat; the chain weaves around the place and allows new participants to join the back of the chain. [from 1935]
   • 1979, John Storm Roberts, The Latin Tinge, New York: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, pages 81–82:

     The conga dance, with its long line that might eventually sweep in everybody in the place, and the kick on the fourth beat and the fruited headdress that were to become her trademarks.

Derived terms

• conga drum
• conga line

Translations

drum

Catalan: conga (ca) f Chinese: Mandarin: 康加鼓 (kāngjiāgǔ) Finnish: congarumpu Macedonian: конга f (konga) Russian: ко́нга (ru) f (kónga) Spanish: conga (es) f, tambó m, tumbadora (es) f Swedish: congas (sv) c pl, congatrumma c, conga (sv) c

dance

Catalan: conga (ca) f Chinese: Mandarin: please add this translation if you can Finnish: conga (fi) French: conga (fr) f Spanish: conga (es) f Swedish: conga (sv) c, congadans c

Verb

conga (third-person singular simple present congas, present participle congaing, simple past and past participle congaed)

1. To dance the conga.

See also

• bunny hop

Further reading

• conga on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• conga line on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• Cogan

Dutch

Etymology

Likely borrowed from English conga, from Spanish conga, from Congo.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkɔŋ.ɡaː/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: con‧ga

Noun

conga f (plural conga's, no diminutive)

1. (music) a conga (tall, narrow Cuban hand drum used in pairs)
2. (music, uncountable) Conga (Cuban march music and dance style)

French

Pronunciation

• Audio (France (Lyon)):

  (file)

Noun

conga f (plural congas)

1. conga (dance)

Further reading

• “conga”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Anagrams

• cogna

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French conga.

Noun

conga f (uncountable)

1. conga (drum)
2. conga (dance)

Declension

singular only	indefinite	definite
nominative-accusative	conga	conga
genitive-dative	{{{pl}}}	{{{pl}}}i
vocative	—

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkonɡa/ [ˈkõŋ.ɡa]
• Rhymes: -onɡa
• Syllabification: con‧ga

Noun

conga f (plural congas)

1. conga (dance)

Further reading

• “conga”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 10 December 2024