📄 Strong brown paper ✉️ A brown envelope

manilla

8.1

A strong brown envelope for papers or a metal bracelet once used as money in West Africa

noun
/məˈnɪlə/

: sobre manila

Although generally the Portuguese symbolize wealth (two figures hold manillas, curved metal bars which served as currency), they may also indicate events from Esigie's reign.

Examples

The museum displayed a collection of historical manillas that were used for commerce during the colonial period.
In many indigenous cultures, manillas were crafted as a form of currency and passed down through generations.
Introduced in the sixteenth century, manillas were one of the early forms of money among the Ibibio (Eyo 1979:61).

Academic text (1994)
These manillas were one of the main items traded for slaves.

Compounds

Manilla hemp

Philippine

7.4

A strong natural fiber from the abaca plant that people use to make ropes

manilla paper

4.6

A strong light brown paper that you use for writing, drawing, or wrapping

Surface Forms

manilla singular

manillas plural

Etymology

The word manilla can also mean a brown envelope or, historically, a metal bracelet used as money in West Africa. The envelope sense comes from the same Manila paper, while the bracelet sense probably comes from the Portuguese word manilha, meaning 'ring' or 'bracelet', used by traders, so today manilla can mean either a paper envelope or an old money bracelet.