Hawaiian Word of the Day: January 9th

By Leilani Poliʻahu

Published January 9, 2025 at 12:00 AM HST

The Hawaiian word of they day for January 9 is another of those beautiful Oʻahu Hawaiian place names so often mispronounced — Mōʻiliʻili, a residential area near Mānoa. It means pebble lizard.

Another of those beautiful Oʻahu Hawaiian place names so often mispronounced is Mōʻiliʻili, a residential area near Mānoa. It means pebble lizard.

Hawaiian Word of the Day

Leilani Poliʻahu

See stories by Leilani Poliʻahu

More Episodes

Hawaiian Word of The Day

Hawaiian Word of the Day: April 30th

Leilani Poliʻahu

Our Hawaiian Word of the Day is moku. We often use moku to mean a district, an island, severed portion, or fragment, or as the root for other common words such as mokuahi for steamship, mokuʻāina for state, mokulele for airplane, or a mokuluʻu for a submarine, a diving ship. But the first use of moku means to be cut, severed, amputated, broken in two. There are many opportunities every day to use that common word, moku.
Hawaiian Word of The Day

Hawaiian Word of the Day: April 29th

Leilani Poliʻahu

Our Hawaiian word today is a good example of the importance of putting the right stress on vowel sounds, or leaving them off. Lolo means brains, and it is from that root word that we get such new words as lolo uila: one of the words for computer – an electric brain. If you say it with stress on both vowels it becomes lōlō, and that means paralyzed, numb, feeble-minded, or crazy. Be careful how you pronounce Hawaiian words.