pon·gee (pŏn-jē′, pŏn′jē) n. A light, plain-woven fabric, usually of tussah or raw silk. [Of Chinese origin, perhaps from an earlier Chinese (Mandarin) *běn zhī, homemade fabric : běn, root, base, foundation, original, one's own (from Early Middle Chinese pen') + zhī, to weave, spin (from Middle Chinese tʂiăk, ultimately from Proto-Sino ...