Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A woman's garment consisting of a piece of rectangular cloth that is tied around the waist and worn as a skirt or tied under the armpits, over the shoulder, or behind the neck and worn as a dress.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A wraparound garment, worn by men or women, similar to a Malaysian sarong.

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Tahitian pāreu, pareu.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Tahitian pāreu

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Examples

  • Both men and women wear round their loins a kind of apron, made of coloured stuff, and called a pareo; the women let it fall as low down as their ancles; the men not farther than the calf of the leg.

    A Woman's Journey Round the World Ida Pfeiffer 1827

  • Is the pareo , or sarong, now deeply unfashionable?

    Covering a Multitude of Beach Sins Tina Gaudoin 2011

  • But this wasn't just any pareo, you understand, this was from I Pezzi Dipinti www.ipezzidipinti.com , the exclusive New York-based company selling hand-loomed shawls and textiles from South Asia and Italy, with the goal of supporting the artisanal traditions.

    Covering a Multitude of Beach Sins Tina Gaudoin 2011

  • Recently, while vacationing on Harbour Island in the Bahamas, I visited my friend "chic Al," who was very definitely and very successfully working her pareo.

    Covering a Multitude of Beach Sins Tina Gaudoin 2011

  • The answer to the question then appears to be that yes, one can still wear a pareo, but it needs to be special, rather than High Street.

    Covering a Multitude of Beach Sins Tina Gaudoin 2011

  • Later that evening, Al was still wearing her pareo, but this time as a wrap over a strappy silk top.

    Covering a Multitude of Beach Sins Tina Gaudoin 2011

  • Most of them are stark naked, but for their traditional pareo skirts.

    Another view on Gauguin: Maker of Myth 2010

  • I'm careful with her sunblock, and I make her wear a gauzy ankle length pareo, skimming the thin straps of her narrow sandals.

    Poetry Friday - The Collected Works of Susan Ramsey fusenumber8 2007

  • In a typical day, I woke up whenever I wanted and went downstairs in my pareo to eat by the pool.

    Island Ease 2006

  • Tie an oversize scarf (about forty-five inches wide by fifty or sixty inches long) or pareo around your lower waist (just below your natural waistline) and do a loop square knot tie above the center of one leg. Push the knot lower on your body, forming a subtle angle.

    “I Don’t Have a Thing to Wear” Judie Taggart 2003

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