© 2025 Hawaiʻi Public Radio

Donate

Play Live Radio

Next Up:

0:00

0:00

0:00 0:00

Available On Air Stations

Hawaiian Word of The Day

Hawaiian Word of the Day

Hawaiian Word of the Day: December 20th

By Leilani Poliʻahu

Published December 20, 2024 at 12:00 AM HST

The Hawaiian word of the day for December 20 is hāmama. Hāmama means open, like a door or a window is open.

Hāmama means open, like a door or a window is open. It should not be confused with the act of opening.

Hawaiian Word of the Day

Leilani Poliʻahu

See stories by Leilani Poliʻahu

More Episodes

Hawaiian Word of The Day

Hawaiian Word of the Day: December 5th

Leilani Poliʻahu

Our Hawaiian word for today is aniani, something we all see, or see through every day. A common meaning for aniani is glass. We modify it for special meanings, such as aniani nānā for mirror, or aniani awe for fiber glass. It can be the modifier such as puka aniani for window.
Hawaiian Word of The Day

Hawaiian Word of the Day: December 4th

Leilani Poliʻahu

Kaimukī, the name for a section of Honolulu, is another name often mispronounced by those familiar with the common Hawaiian word kai. Kaimukī means “the ti oven” and is a compound word made up of ka for “the,” imu for “oven,” and kī for “ti.”