Palagi

Palagi (pronounced [ˈpaːlaŋi], singular) or papalagi (plural) is a term in Samoan culture of uncertain etymology, sometimes used to describe foreigners.

In the Samoan language, the term is used to describe non-Samoans, usually white foreigners of European or American descent. It is both a noun (e.g. a palagi, or a European person) and an adjective (e.g. Palagi house, i.e. a 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, Wallis and Futuna, and Fiji.

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