Hawaiian Word of the Day: February 1st

By Leilani Poliʻahu

Published February 1, 2024 at 12:00 AM HST

Our Hawaiian word for today is kāpena. It too is a borrowed word, and it means captain. Use it when you talk about the captain of your favorite team, or the police captain, or the ship's captain.

Hawaiian Word of the Day

Leilani Poliʻahu

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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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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.