July 24th: Kōkeʻe

By Leilani Poliʻahu

Published July 24, 2026 at 12:00 AM HST

Today's Hawaiian Word of the Day is another beautiful place name: Kōkeʻe. It means "to bend" or "to wind." We all know it as the name of the beautiful state park and area on Kauaʻi.

Hawaiian Word of the Day

Leilani Poliʻahu

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Hawaiian Word of The Day

July 23rd: Pekelala

Leilani Poliʻahu

Pekelala is another Hawaiian word borrowed from English, and it means federal. If you listen to the news of the day discussed in Hawaiian, you often hear pekelala, because so much of what is in the news relates to the U.S. federal government.
Hawaiian Word of The Day

July 22nd: Pō

Leilani Poliʻahu

Pō means: night, darkness, obscurity, the realm of the gods. The Hawaiian day begins at nightfall, so instead of using the word for the days of the week, as is done in English, we use pō for nights, and then modify it to make the nights of the week. For example Pōʻakahi or Pōʻalua.