Hawaiian Word of the Day: August 8th

By Leilani Poliʻahu

Published August 8, 2023 at 12:00 AM HST

Makau means fishhook, something we see everyday in Hawaiʻi, even if you don't go near the water. The beautiful fishhooks carved form bone and used as a decoration around the necks of so many men and women in Hawaiʻi today are correctly called makau.

Hawaiian Word of the Day

Leilani Poliʻahu

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Leilani Poliʻahu

Although mahina has several other meanings, the most common usage of the word is for moon, or month, or moonlight. It is also a crescent shaped fishhook, the eye of the snail at the end of its horn, a farm, plantation or patch, a variety of onion, and a variety of sweet potato. You hear it most often as moon or month – it's mahina.
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Hawaiian Word of the Day: April 24th

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Everyone is familiar with the word hānau from the popular greeting “hauʻoli lā hānau,” but many mispronounce it and often use it incorrectly. Hānau means to give birth. To say that one was born, requires adding the passive article ʻia, as in, “Hānau ʻia ʻo Kaʻimi Pono” – Kaʻimi Pono was born. In either case, be sure to stress the first vowel.