tapa bark

9.9

Thin stringy bark from the paper mulberry tree used to make tapa cloth

noun

Specialized

: corteza de tapa

The artisans carefully stripped the tapa bark from the paper mulberry tree to begin their craft.

Examples

Traditional Hawaiian clothing often incorporated tapa bark processed into sheets.
The artisans use tapa bark to create beautiful cloth.
She studied the method of turning tapa bark into decorative cloth patterns.
Can you show me how to work with tapa bark?
The artisans carefully stripped the tapa bark from the paper mulberry tree to begin their craft.
Traditional Hawaiian clothing often incorporated tapa bark processed into sheets.
She studied the method of turning tapa bark into decorative cloth patterns.

Synonyms

tappa

vstapa bark

Australian

1 9.9

A paper-like cloth made by beating inner tree bark, used for clothing and ceremonies in Pacific Islands

is the bark used to make that cloth rather than the finished fabric

tappa bark

vstapa bark

Australian

9.9

Thin bark from the paper mulberry tree that people beat to make cloth in Polynesia

is the same bark described without the regional emphasis

Surface Forms

tapa bark singular

tapa barks plural

Morphology

tapa + bark

The phrase names the bark used to make tapa cloth and is directly compositional: 'tapa' (material from tree bark used in Polynesia) + 'bark' (outer covering of a tree). A B1 learner who knows both constituents can reliably infer that 'tapa bark' means the tree bark used for tapa, following a common noun–noun compounding pattern.

Etymology

Tapa bark comes from the old craft of stripping and beating the thin outer bark of trees, like the paper mulberry, until it becomes soft 'cloth'. So, tapa bark now means the fibrous tree bark used to make tapa cloth.