Hawaii - Jeff Campbell [496]
ahi – yellowfin or bigeye tuna
’ahinahina – silversword plant with pointed silver leaves
ahu – stone cairns used to mark a trail; an altar or shrine
ahupua’a – traditional land division, usually in a wedge shape that extends from the mountains to the sea
aikane – friend
’aina – land
’akala – Hawaiian raspberry; also called a thimbleberry
akamai – clever
’akepa – endangered crested honeycreeper
aku – skipjack tuna, type of bonito
akua – god, spirit, idol
‘alae kea – endangered Hawaiian coot
’alala – Hawaiian crow
ali’i – chief, royalty
aloha – the traditional greeting meaning love, welcome, good-bye
aloha ’aina – respect for the land
’ama’ama – mullet
’amakihi – small, yellow-green honeycreeper; one of the more common native birds
anchialine pool – contains a mixture of seawater and freshwater
’a’o – Newell’s shearwater (a seabird)
’apapane – bright red native Hawaiian honeycreeper
’aumakua – protective deity or guardian spirit, deified ancestor or trustworthy person
awa – Hawaiian milk fish
’awa – see kava
’awapuhi – wild ginger
azuki bean – often served as a sweetened paste, eg as a topping for shave ice
bentō – Japanese-style boxed lunch
broke da mout – delicious; literally, ‘broke the mouth’
chicken skin – goosebumps
crack seed – Chinese preserved fruit; a salty, sweet and/or sour snack
’elepaio – Hawaiian monarch flycatcher; a brownish native bird with a white rump, common to O’ahu forests
goza – rolled-up straw mats used at the beach
grinds – food; to grind means to eat
hala – pandanus (screwpine); the leaves (lau) are used in weaving mats and baskets
hale – house
hana – work; a bay, when used as a compound in place names
haole – Caucasian; literally, ‘without breath’
hapa – portion or fragment; person of mixed blood
hau – indigenous lowland hibiscus tree whose wood is often used for making canoe outriggers (stabilizing arms that jut out from the hull)
Hawai’i Nei – all the Hawaiian Islands taken as a group
heiau – ancient stone temple; a place of worship in Hawaii
hele on – to get moving
Hina – Polynesian goddess (wife of Ku, one of the four main gods)
holoholo – to walk, drive or ramble around for pleasure
holua – sled or sled course
honu – green sea turtle
ho’olaule’a – celebration, party
ho’onanea – to pass the time in ease, peace and pleasure
huhu – angry
hui – group, organization
hukilau – fishing with a seine (a large net), involving a group of people who pull in the net
hula – Hawaiian dance form, either traditional or modern
hula ’auana – modern hula, developed after the introduction of Western music
hula halau – hula school or troupe
hula kahiko – traditional hula
humuhumunukunukuapua’a – rectangular triggerfish; Hawaii’s official state fish
’i’iwi – scarlet Hawaiian honeycreeper with a curved, salmon-colored beak
’iliahi – Hawaiian sandalwood
’ili’ili – smooth, flat stones used as a hula instrument
’ilima – native plant, a ground cover with delicate yellow-orange flowers; O‘ahu’s official flower
’io – Hawaiian hawk
ipu – spherical, narrow-necked gourd used as a hula instrument
issei – first-generation Japanese immigrants; born in Japan
kahili – royal feathered staff
kahuna – priest, healer or sorcerer
kahuna nui – high priest
kaiseki – multicourse chef’s tasting menu
kava – native plant used to make an intoxicating drink
kama’aina – person born and raised or a longtime resident in Hawaii; literally, ‘child of the land’
kanaka – man, human being, person; also Native Hawaiian
Kanaloa – god of the underworld
kane/Kane – man; if capitalized, the name of one of four main Hawaiian gods
kapa – see tapa
kapu – taboo, part of strict ancient Hawaiian social and religious system
kaunaoa – a ground-cover vine with yellow tendrils used to make lei
kava – a mildly narcotic drink (’awa in Hawaiian) made from the roots of Piper methysticum, a pepper shrub
keiki – child
ki – see ti
kiawe – a relative of the mesquite tree introduced to Hawaii in the 1820s, now very common; its branches are covered