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Hawaiian Word of The Day

Hawaiian Word of the Day

April 7th: Lawelawe

By Leilani Poliʻahu

Published April 7, 2026 at 12:00 AM HST

Lawelawe means "to serve, work for, minister to, tend, attend to."

Lawelawe means "to serve, work for, minister to, tend, attend to." When you serve dinner, that's what you're doing, lawelawe.

Hawaiian Word of the Day

Leilani Poliʻahu

See stories by Leilani Poliʻahu

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Hawaiian Word of The Day

April 14th: Kupua

Leilani Poliʻahu

A kupua is a demi-god, or cultural hero, especially a supernatural being possessing several forms, one possessing magical powers. Kupua can often change their form and may assume non god-like, very everyday things.
Hawaiian Word of The Day

April 13th: Puni

Leilani Poliʻahu

Our Hawaiian word for today is puni meaning surrounded, controlled, overcome. Now that you know how to use the ho‘o prefix, you know that ho‘opuni can mean to surround, enclose, get control of: ho‘opuni.