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| Hawaiian word | English meaning |
|---|---|
| ahi | fire |
| ahiahi | evening |
| akamai | smart, clever, expert |
| alakaʻi | to lead, guide, direct |
| alanui | street, road, highway |
| alapiʻi | stairs |
| alaula | light of early dawn, sunset glow |
| alelo | tongue |
| aliʻi | chief |
| alo | face |
| aloha | love, hello, goodbye |
| anuanu | cold, chilly |
| ānuenue | rainbow |
| ao | light, dawn, cloud |
| apolima | bracelet |
| awāwa | valley, gulch, ravine |
| hae | flag |
| hāhālua | manta ray |
| haʻahaʻa | humble, modest, meek |
| haʻaheo | proud |
| hāʻawi | to give, grant |
| haʻi | to tell, declare; to break or snap |
| haʻiʻōlelo | speech, address, lecture |
| hāiki | narrow, pinched |
| hainakā | handkerchief, napkin |
| hālau | long house, as for canoes or hula instruction; meeting house |
| hālāwai | meeting; to meet |
| hale | house, building |
| halihali | to transport, transmit |
| hāliʻi | a covering; to spread |
| hana | work, to work |
| hānai | feed, raise, adopt |
| hānau | to give birth; born |
| hanohano | glorious, magnificent, noble |
| hāpai | to carry, lift, elevate; pregnant |
| hauʻoli | happy |
| hāwanawana | to whisper, whispering |
| heʻe | to slide, octopus |
| heʻe nalu | to surf |
| heiau | Hawaiian temple |
| helu | number, to count |
| heluhelu | to read |
| hema | left, south |
| hemo | loose, separated, untied |
| hiamoe | sleep; to sleep |
| hiapo | first-born child |
| hīhīmanu | sting ray |
| hikina | east |
| hīnaʻi | basket, container |
| hipa | sheep |
| hoahānau | cousin |
| hoaloha | friend, beloved companion |
| hōʻailona | sign |
| hōʻike | to show, exhibit |
| hoʻokipa | to entertain, to greet |
| hoʻolohe | to hear, obey |
| hoʻomākeʻaka | funny |
| hoʻomoana | to camp |
| hoihoi | pleased, interesting |
| hōkū | star |
| hola | hour |
| holo | to run, sail, ride, go |
| holoholo | to go for a walk, ride, or sail |
| holoi | to wash, clean, erase |
| honi | to kiss, to smell; a kiss, a scent |
| honua | earth |
| houpo | diaphragm, chest |
| hua | fruit, egg, seed |
| huaʻōlelo | word |
| huakaʻi | trip, voyage, journey |
| hūhū | angry |
| huʻihuʻi | cold, numbing, tingling |
| hui | club, association; to join, unite |
| hulali | shining, glittering, glossy |
| huli | to search, look for, to turn |
| hulihia | overturned, a complete change |
| hulu | feather, quill, plumage |
| ʻāhinahina | gray, silver |
| ʻahu | cape |
| ʻaʻaka | surly, cranky, irritable |
| ʻaikalima | ice cream |
| ʻāina | land |
| ʻakaʻaka | to laugh; laughter, merriment |
| ʻākala | pink |
| ʻākau | right, north |
| ʻala | fragrant, sweet-smelling |
| ʻalani | orange |
| ʻalemanaka | calendar, almanac |
| ʻanakala | uncle |
| ʻanakē | aunty |
| ʻaoʻao | page |
| ʻauʻau | swim, bathe |
| ʻauinalā | afternoon |
| ʻawaʻawa | bitter, sour, tart |
| ʻehu | spray, foam, mist |
| ʻeke | bag |
| ʻeleʻele | black |
| ʻelelū | cockroach |
| ʻelepani | elephant |
| ʻeleweka | elevator |
| ʻena | red-hot, glowing |
| ʻike | to see, know, feel, experience |
| ʻili | skin |
| ʻīlio | dog |
| ʻīlioholoikauaua | Hawaiian monk seal |
| ʻimi | to search, look for |
| ʻio | Hawaiian hawk |
| ʻiole | rat |
| ʻō | fork |
| ʻohana | family, relative, kin group |
| ʻōlelo | language, speech, word |
| ʻōlino | bright, brilliant, dazzling |
| ʻolokaʻa | to roll |
| ʻōmaʻomaʻo | green |
| ʻōmole | bottle |
| ʻōpala | trash |
| ʻōpio | youth, juvenile, junior |
| ʻōpū | belly, stomach |
| ʻuala | sweet potato |
| ʻulaʻula | red |
| ʻūpā | scissors, shears, any instrument that opens and shuts |
| iho | to go down, descend |
| ihu | nose |
| iʻa | fish |
| inoa | name |
| inu | to drink |
| kahakai | beach |
| kāhea | to call, cry out |
| kahiko | old, ancient |
| kahua | foundation, base, site |
| kaʻa | car |
| kaʻa ʻōhua | bus |
| kaʻaahi | train, railroad |
| kaʻawale | separate, free, different, apart |
| kaka | to rinse, clean |
| kakā | duck; to quack |
| kakahiaka | morning |
| kākau | to write |
| kākoʻo | to uphold, support, favor |
| kalaiwa | to drive |
| kalaka | truck |
| kalo | taro |
| kamahaʻo | wonderful, astonishing, marvelous |
| kāmaʻa | shoe, sandal |
| kamepiula | computer |
| kānāwai | law, code, rule, statute |
| kāne | man, husband |
| kani | sound |
| kao | goat |
| kaomi | to press down, squeeze with downward pressure |
| kapa | also called Tapa, a fabric as made from wauke bark |
| kapalili | fluttering, quivering as a leaf |
| kāpena | captain |
| kauhale | group of houses comprising a Hawaiian home |
| kaulana | famous |
| kaumaha | sad, heavy |
| kauoha | order, command, demand |
| kaupoku | roof, ceiling |
| kāwele | to dust, or wipe with a cloth |
| keiki | child |
| kekona | second |
| kelepona | telephone |
| kena | quenched, satisfied |
| kiaʻi | guard, watchman, caretaker |
| kīʻaha | cup, glass |
| kiʻi | image, picture; to fetch, get |
| kiʻiʻoniʻoni | movie |
| kika | tiger |
| kīkala | hips |
| kikokiko | spotted; to type |
| kilape | giraffe |
| kiloi | to throw, throw away, discard |
| kini | can |
| kinipōpō | ball |
| kipi | rebellion, revolt, to rebel |
| koa | brave; warrior; the largest of native forest trees |
| koholā | whale |
| kōkua | help, aid, assistance, relief |
| kolo | to creep, crawl, move along |
| komo | to enter |
| komohana | west |
| kope | coffee |
| kū | stand, upright, stop |
| kua | back |
| kuahiwi | mountain |
| kūʻai | to buy, barter, sell |
| kuʻi | to pound, punch, strike |
| kūʻokoʻa | independence, liberty, freedom |
| kukui | candlenut, light |
| kula | school, plain |
| kula pepeiao | earrings |
| kuleana | responsibility, right, privilege |
| kumu | teacher, foundation, source |
| kumulaʻau | tree |
| kupuna | grandparent, ancestor |
| lā | sun, day |
| laha | broadly circulated, spread out |
| lāhui | nation, race, tribe, people |
| lalo | down, low, under |
| lana | floating, buoyant |
| lanakila | victory, triumph |
| lau | leaf |
| laulā | broad, wide, liberal |
| lauoho | hair |
| lawaiʻa | fisherman; to fish |
| leʻaleʻa | to have a good time, fun, amusement |
| lei | garland |
| lekauila | |
| leki | tape |
| lele | to fly, to jump |
| lemi | lemon |
| leo | voice |
| lepo | dirt, earth, ground |
| lima | arm, hand |
| limahana | laborer, worker, employee |
| limu | seaweed, underwater plants |
| lio | horse |
| loʻi | irrigated terrace, especially for taro |
| lōʻihi | length, long, tall |
| lole | clothes |
| loli | to change, alter, influence |
| luna | high, upper, above |
| lupe | kite |
| mahiʻai | farmer; to cultivate land, farm |
| mahina | moon, month |
| maʻi | sickness, illness, disease |
| māʻona | full after eating |
| maka | eyes |
| makaaniani | glasses |
| mākaʻi | policeman, guard; to police |
| mākaʻikaʻi | to visit the sights |
| makamae | precious, of great value, highly prized |
| makani | wind |
| mākeke | market |
| mākua | parent |
| makuahine | mother |
| makuakāne | father |
| māla | garden, plantation, patch |
| mālama | to take care of, tend, preserve |
| mālamalama | light of knowledge |
| malihini | stranger, foreigner, tourist |
| mamalu | umbrella |
| manaʻo | thought, idea, belief, opinion |
| manakō | mango |
| manō | shark |
| manu | bird |
| maopopo | to understand, recognize, realize |
| mauʻu | grass |
| mauna | mountain, mountainous region |
| meainu | drink, beverage |
| meakanu | plant |
| mehameha | loneliness, solitariness |
| mele | song |
| melemele | yellow |
| mikiʻao | nail |
| minoʻaka | smile; to smile |
| minuke | minute |
| moa | chicken |
| moana | ocean |
| moeʻuhane | dream; to dream |
| moena | mat, bed, resting place |
| mōʻī | monarch, sovereign, queen, king |
| moʻo | lizard, water spirit/guardian |
| moʻokūʻauhau | genealogy |
| moʻolelo | story, tale, myth, history, tradition |
| moʻopuna | grandchild |
| moku | island, boat |
| mokulele | airplane |
| momona | sweet, fat, fertile |
| muli | after, behind, younger |
| nahu | to bite |
| naʻauao | knowledge, wisdom, enlightened |
| naiʻa | dolphin |
| nalu | wave |
| nānā | to look at, observe |
| nanea | enjoyable, at ease, at leisure |
| niho | tooth |
| nīnau | question; to ask a question |
| niu | coconut |
| niuhi | man-eating shark |
| noe | mist, fog, spray from the rain |
| noho | chair, to sit |
| noʻeau | clever, skillful, wise |
| noʻonoʻo | thought, reflection, thinking |
| noi | to ask for something, request |
| nui | big |
| nūpepa | newspaper |
| ola | life, to live |
| oli | a chant; to chant |
| one | sand |
| pahu | box, drum; to push, shove |
| paʻa | firm, solid, secure, closed |
| pāʻani | to play |
| paʻi | to hit; to print as on a printer |
| pāʻina | party |
| pākahi | singly, once, one at a time |
| pākaukau | table |
| pākeke | |
| palapala | document, certificate |
| palaunu | brown |
| pale | to ward off, shield, defend, protect |
| paleʻili | shirt |
| pali | cliff, precipice |
| paniolo | cowboy |
| papahele | floor |
| pāpale | hat |
| pēʻahi | fan, wave |
| peku | a kick, to kick |
| pele | lava flow; name of volcanic goddess who creates new earth |
| peni | pen |
| penikala | pencil |
| pepa | paper |
| pēpē | baby |
| pepeiao | ear |
| piʻi | to climb, ascend, rise |
| pinao | dragonfly |
| pipi | cow |
| pō | night, darkness |
| poepoe | round |
| pōhai | circle, group, gathering |
| poho | chalk |
| poʻo | head |
| poʻohiwi | shoulder |
| poʻoʻōlelo | title |
| pōkiʻi | younger brother or sister, or closely related younger cousin |
| pōkole | short, brief |
| pola | bowl |
| polū | blue |
| poni | purple |
| pōpoki | cat |
| pua | flower |
| puaʻa | pig |
| pueo | owl |
| puʻu | hill, peak, cone |
| puʻuwai | heart |
| puka | hole, door |
| pukaaniani | window |
| puke | book |
| pule | week, to pray |
| pulelehua | butterfly |
| pūlumi | broom; to sweep |
| puna | spoon |
| pūnaewele | network, internet |
| punahele | favorite |
| ua | rain |
| uē | to cry, weep, lament, mourn |
| uhi | to cover; a covering, tattoo |
| uila | lightning, electricity |
| ulana | to plait, weave, braid |
| uliuli | any dark color including the deep blue of the sea, green of vegetation, black of clouds |
| ulu | breadfruit, growth, to grow |
| waha | mouth |
| wahine | woman, wife |
| waʻa | canoe |
| wai | water |
| waihona | closet, cabinet |
| walaʻau | to talk, speak, converse |
| wāwae | leg, foot |
| wehe | to open, untie, undo, loosen |
| wehewehe | to explain, define |
| wehi | decoration, adornment, ornament |
| wela | hot, burned |
| welo | to flutter, float, or stream, as in the wind |
| wena | glow, as of sunrise or fire |
| wikiō | video |
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ALERT | In holiday observance of Thanksgiving Day, all public libraries will be closed on Thursday, November 27, 2025.