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Hawaiian Word of The Day

Hawaiian Word of the Day

Hawaiian Word of the Day: December 9th

By Leilani Poliʻahu

Published December 9, 2025 at 12:00 AM HST

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Hale noho haumāna is the Hawaiian word for dormitory, a place where students live.

Hawaiian Word of the Day

Leilani Poliʻahu

See stories by Leilani Poliʻahu

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Hawaiian Word of The Day

June 19th: Lani

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Today’s Hawaiian word of the day is one of the most commonly used of Hawaiian words, lani. It means "sky, heaven, or heavenly," and can also mean "spiritual." Lani is part of many proper names, such as Leilani for “heavenly lei.”
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June 18th: Kepanī

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Many of our visitors to Hawaiʻi come from Japan, and we call them kepanī. It is, as you may have guessed, a transliteration of the English word Japanese.