vatu

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Related to vatu: Vastu

va·tu

(vä′to͞o)

See Table at currency.

[Bislama, either from Fijian vatu, stone, or from a kindred word in a Malayo-Polynesian language of Vanuatu (perhaps chosen as the name for the currency because of its phonetic similarity to Vanuatu), from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *batu, stone, from Proto-Austronesian; akin to Tsou (Austronesian language of Taiwain) fatu.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

vatu

(ˈvætuː)

(Currencies) the standard monetary unit of Vanuatu

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

va•tu

(ˈvɑ tu)

n., pl. -tus.

the basic monetary unit of Vanuatu.

Mentioned in ?

References in classic literature ?

One man only he found who approved of his project, and that was Ra Vatu, who secretly encouraged him and offered to lend him guides to the first foothills.

John Starhurst journeyed up the sluggish Rewa in one of Ra Vatu's canoes.

This canoe was also the property of Ra Vatu. In it was Erirola, Ra Vatu's first cousin and trusted henchman; and in the small basket that never left his hand was a whale tooth.

The Buli of Gatoka, seated on his best mat, surrounded by his chief men, three busy fly-brushers at his back, deigned to receive from the hand of his herald the whale tooth presented by Ra Vatu and carried into the mountains by his cousin, Erirola.

"It is the whale tooth of Ra Vatu," he whispered to Starhurst.

"Ra Vatu is soon to become Lotu," Starhurst explained, "and I have come bringing the Lotu to you."

"Ra Vatu has arranged that we should be well received."

View in context

For Vatu and her fellow market mamas, the opportunity to boost their own businesses and that of people producing island-made items came with the redevelopment plans for Vanuatu's storm-damaged seafront.

In Vanuatu, 'market mamas' are taking care of business: Women entrepreneurs are helping to restore island nation's economy after the ravages of Cyclone Pam

In two cases (Vatu vola vola na vu and Maqere), the sites are located on ridges at a relatively higher altitude, overlooking a large valley and the sea, respectively.

The archaeology of rock art in Fiji: evidence, methods and hypotheses

Income generation had three key objectives: notably paying school fees (which are roughly Vatu 40,000 per year, plus transport costs, for high school, and Vatu 9000 for primary school).

From blackbirds to guestworkers in the South Pacific. Plus ca change ...?

Vatu describes this in terms of her knowledge that domestic work is about being used and simultaneously feeling useless because of racialization in terms of one's color or foreigner status: "And, I mean, imagine how you feel, it's just like--you feel like being used.

The "hidden side" of the new economy: on transnational migration, domestic work, and unprecedented intimacy

After the passing of the bill in Parliament in November 2005, all incoming and outgoing passengers to and from Vanuatu will be legally obligated to declare to the Department of Customs cash exceeding one million Vatu in possession (approximately $9,100).