ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi Glossary
This website will heavily use ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi (Hawaiian language). Below is a glossary of commonly used terms and their meanings.
ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi
n. Kind, variety, nature, character, disposition, bearing, type, brand, likeness, sort, way, manner, shape, tendency, fashion, style, mode, circumstance, condition, resemblance, image, color, moral quality, denomination, meaning (preceded by ke).
nvt., Family or personal gods, deified ancestors who might assume the shape of sharks (all islands except Kauaʻi), owls (as at Mānoa, Oʻahu and Kaʻū and Puna, Hawaiʻi), hawks (Hawaiʻi), ʻelepaio, ʻiwi, mudhens, octopuses, eels, mice, rats, dogs, caterpillars, rocks, cowries, clouds, or plants. A symbiotic relationship existed; mortals did not harm or eat ʻaumākua (they fed sharks), and ʻaumākua warned and reprimanded mortals in dreams, visions, and calls. (Beckwith, 1970, pp. 124–43, 559; Nānā 38.) Figuratively, a trustworthy person. Probably literally, ʻau #4, group, + makua, parent.
n., The kava (Piper methysticum), a shrub 1.2 to 3.5 meters tall with green jointed stems and heart-shaped leaves, native to Pacific islands, the root being the source of a narcotic drink of the same name used in ceremonies, prepared formerly by chewing, later by pounding. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taro
n., Insect, bug. (Wallis Futuna ngarara.)
nvs. Entirely black, as of pigs offered to the gods, a desirable blackness contrasting with uli and ʻeleʻele, which have pejorative connotations.
nvi., Club, association, society, corporation, company, institution, organization, band, league, firm, joint ownership, partnership, union, alliance, troupe, team; to form a society or organization; to meet, intermingle, associate, congregate.
Kalo
n. Taro (Colocasia esculenta), a kind of aroid cultivated since ancient times for food, spreading widely from the tropics of the Old World. In Hawaiʻi, taro has been the staple from earliest times to the present, and here its culture developed greatly, including more than 300 forms. All parts of the plant are eaten, its starchy root principally as poi, and its leaves as lūʻau. It is a perennial herb consisting of a cluster of long-stemmed, heart-shaped leaves rising 30 cm. or more from underground tubers or corms. (Neal 157–60.) Specifically, kalo is the name of the first taro growing from the planted stalk.
Kihi
nvi. Outside corner (cf. kūʻono), edge, tip, extremity; apex of an angle; sharp point of a leaf; to turn aside.
Kō
n., Sugar cane (Saccharum officinarum), a large unbranched grass brought to Hawaiʻi by early Polynesians as a source of sugar and fiber. The thick stems are full of sweet juicy pulp. In time, many different kinds of cane were produced, with many different attributes and names. Cane yields one of the most valuable plant products known. For commercial purposes the yield has been increased by hybridizing with such success that the sugar industry was for many years the largest industry in Hawaiʻi.
n., Teacher, tutor, manual, primer, model, pattern.
n., A general name for all kinds of plants living under water, both fresh and salt, also algae growing in any damp place in the air, as on the ground, on rocks, and on other plants; also mosses, liverworts, lichens.
n., All kinds of bananas and plantains.
nvs., Sea, sea water; area near the sea, seaside, lowlands; tide, current in the sea; insipid, brackish, tasteless.
n., Bird; any winged creature; wing of a kite. Figuratively, person.
n., Chicken, red jungle chicken (Gallus gallus), fowl, as brought to Hawaiʻi by Polynesians; for some people, an ʻaumakua.
n., Story, tale, myth, history, tradition, literature, legend, journal, log, yarn, fable, essay, chronicle, record, article; minutes, as of a meeting.
n., The coconut (Cocos nucifera), a common palm in tropical islands of the Pacific and warm parts of eastern Asia; coconut meat or oil. Hawaiians used all parts of the tree.
nvt., Language, speech, word, quotation, statement, utterance, term, tidings; to speak, say, state, talk, mention, quote, converse, tell; oral, verbatim, verbal, motion (in early House of Nobles regulations).
n., Proverb, wise saying, traditional saying.
n., Association, relationship, union, connection, meeting, joining, adhering, fitting.
n., Book, volume (in a series).
n., The sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas), a perennial, wide-spreading vine, with heart-shaped, angled, or lobed leaves and pinkish-lavender flowers. The tuberous roots are a valuable food, and they vary greatly in many ways, as in color and shape. Though of South American origin, the plant has been a staple food since ancient times in many parts of Polynesia, as well as in some other regions.