| 释义 |
‖ punkah, punka, n. E. Ind.|ˈpʌŋkə|
Forms: 7 punkaw, panhah, panha, (8 erron. punker, -ar), 9 (pankah, phoonka), punk-ha, punkah, punka.
[a. Hindī pankhā a fan, orig. a hand-fan:—Skr. pakshaka fan, f. paksha wing.]
1. ‘A portable fan, generally made from the leaf of the palmyra’ (Yule and Burnell).
In first quot. erron., an attendant who fans with a punkah.
a1625W. Finch Observ. in Purchas Pilgrims IV. iv. vi. 439 The King sits in his chaire of State, accompanied with his Children and chiefe Vizier..no other without calling daring to goe vp to him, saue only two Punkaw's to gather wind. 1672H. O. tr. Bernier's Gt. Mogul III. Dehli & Agra 4 Having a servant or two to fan one by turns, with their great Panhahs or Fans. 1800Misc. Tracts in Asiat. Ann. Reg. 336/2 Over her head was held a punkar. 1828Asiat. Costumes 45 The punk-ha, or fan, represented in the plate, is the leaf of the palmyra. 1834[A. Prinsep] Baboo II. viii. 140 Fair hands were gently waving a punkah over my face. 1903G. W. Forrest Cities of India v. 132 Punkas and water were brought.
2. A large swinging fan made of cloth stretched on a rectangular frame, suspended from the ceiling or rafters, and worked by a cord so as to agitate and freshen the air in hot weather.
Mentioned under the Arabic name khaish or mirwahat-al-khaish, in 12th c., referred to 8th or 9th c.
1807Ld. Minto in Life & Lett. 15 Sept. (1880) 27 The punkah vibrates gently over my eyes. 1812M. Graham Jrnl. Resid. India 29 The punka (a large frame of wood covered with cloth)..is suspended over every table, and kept swinging, in order to freshen the air. 1842Civil Eng. & Arch. Jrnl. V. 153/1 Strong brass hinge⁓hooks for punkahs. 1879Mrs. A. G. F. E. James Ind. Househ. Managem. 41 The punkah is a straight board some two feet in width, and is put up diagonally across the centre of the room, hung from the ceiling or rafters by stout ropes: to this board is attached, by means of rings, a deep frill, or vallance, about eighteen inches in depth.
3. attrib. and Comb., as punkah-board, punkah-cord, punkah-fan, punkah-fringe, punkah-puller, punkah-pulling, punkah-rope; punkah-coolie, a native Indian servant who works a punkah; also punkah-wallah [cf. competition-wallah, s.v. competition 3]; whence punkah-wallahing (nonce-wd.), the occupation of a punkah-wallah.
1857A. Case Let. 6 Aug. in Day by Day at Lucknow (1858) v. 133 Last night..a shell burst close to our door, just behind the punkah wallah. 1859Lang Wand. India 245 The idea of the poor men paying for punkah coolies! 1864Trevelyan Compet. Wallah (1866) 118 What well-regulated female can make dress an object in a society of a dozen people..; or music, when her audience consists of a Punkah-wallah and a Portuguese Ayah? 1870J. W. Kaye Sepoy War v. ii. II. 273 There were..none to pull the punkah-ropes. 1879Mrs. A. G. F. E. James Ind. Househ. Managem. 41 Punkah fringes, 20 R[upees]. Ibid., The punkah boards and ropes are landlords' property. 1890S. J. Duncan Social Depart. 259 He had never, in the whole course of his punkah-wallahing, been told to stop before. 1896‘H. S. Merriman’ Flotsam x, The servant..resumed his place at the punkah-cord. 1899Conrad Lord Jim (1900) v. 39 The archway from the anteroom was crowded with punkah-pullers, sweepers, police peons, the coxswain and crew of the harbour steam-launch. 1904Brit. Med. Jrnl. 17 Sept. 637 There is no class of native here to accept punkah-pulling as an occupation. 1959Listener 13 Aug. 234/2 The Madras Government was still employing 714 ‘punkah-pullers’.
Hence ˈpunkah v., to fan with a punkah (trans. and absol.).
a1625W. Finch Observ. in Purchas Pilgrims IV. iv. vi. 433 Portraitures of the King in state sitting amongst his women,..behind one punkawing, another holding his sword. 1859Lang Wand. India 245 What would it cost to punkah the whole regiment during the hot season? |