An interactive glossary of Hawaiian words contained
within the articles and lesson plans has been provided. Click
to listen to the correct pronunciation of the Hawaiian language,
the second official language of the State of Hawai'i.
‘aina [listen]
- land |
ali‘i [listen]
- chiefs and chiefesses in traditional society,
Ali‘i Nui were the families of great chiefs, whose lineages
and accomplishments placed them in authority over other ali‘i. |
ali‘i nui [listen]
- high chief |
aloha ‘aina [listen]
- a popular Native
value translated as love for the land, or patriotism. It was
the name of a Hawaiian political party that worked to keep
the Kingdom’s independence, a late nineteenth century
newspaper, and the motto of the Protect Kaho‘olawe ‘Ohana
in the late twentieth century. |
‘a‘ole [listen]
- no, not, never |
‘auwai [listen]
- irrigation
ditches, dug and maintained under the direction of
chiefs, which fed the cultivation of taro in the inlands. |
ea [listen]
- sovereignty,
rule, independence |
haole [listen]
- foreigner
or stranger; eventually came to refer to Europeans, particularly
northern Europeans and Americans. |
heiau [listen]
- pre-Christian
place of worship, shrine |
hula [listen]
- traditional
Kanaka Maoli dance; two principal categories of hula
divide them into ancient (kahiko) styles which reflect
pre-contact compositions and musical values, while auwana
represent more recent compositions done with modern western
musical harmonies and instrumentation. |
ka‘a [listen]
- car |
Kaho‘olawe [listen]
- uninhabited
Hawaiian island, taken by the US military in 1941 for
bombing practice. |
Ka
Lahui Hawai‘i [listen]
- the Hawaiian nation,
race, tribe, people. |
kia‘aina [listen]
- governor. |
kanaka [listen]
- person,
man. |
kanaka
maoli [listen]
- native Hawaiian, literally: true or
real person. |
kuhina
nui [listen]
- chief councilor;
Kamehameha made Ka‘ahumanu his kuhina nui with
the death of her father, the Kuhina Nui Ke‘eaumoku. |
kupuna [listen]
- grandparent,
ancestor |
lo‘i [listen]
- wetland taro garden,
irrigated by ‘auwai |
loko
i‘a [listen]
- fishponds; walled
enclosures, often at the mouth of streams that kanaka
built to cultivate herbivores such as mullet (‘anae) |
lukanela [listen]
- lieutenant |
mahele [listen]
- to share or divide;
the Great Mahele was the formal division of lands, creating
private, alienable property and ending the traditional
land-use system |
maka‘ainana [listen]
- people
of the land, common people who work the land, fishing
and farming |
malama ‘aina [listen]
- cherishing or caring for
land; an ethic that encouraged ali‘i and maka‘ainana
together to cultivate the land and conserve its resources |
malihini [listen]
- newcomer |
mana [listen]
- supernatural or divine power, power, authority |
mauka [listen]
- directional: inland, toward the uplands, |
mele [listen]
- songs and chants composed in Hawaiian that usually
accompany hula or traditional dances. |
mo‘ï [listen]
- paramount or supreme chief; overlord;
under constitutional law the mo‘ï became king |
Moloka‘i/Molokai [listen]
- name of a Hawaiian island. Can be pronounced two ways. |
O‘ahu [listen]
- name of the most populous of the Hawaiian
islands, home of the capital city Honolulu |
‘olelo Hawai‘i [listen]
- the Hawaiian language |
oli [listen]
- songs and chants composed in Hawaiian that are usually
performed without hula |
onipa‘a [listen]
- fixed, immovable, steadfast, resolute,
determined |
wa‘a [listen]
- canoe |
