Hawaiian Word of the Day: June 13th

By Leilani Poliʻahu

Published June 13, 2024 at 12:00 AM HST

Kīkākila comes from two English words. Kīkā comes from the English word "guitar." Kila is from the English word "steel." Put them together and you get the Hawaiian word for steel guitar.

Hawaiian Word of the Day

Leilani Poliʻahu

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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.