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Hawaiian Word of The Day

Hawaiian Word of the Day

Hawaiian Word of the Day: May 13th

By Leilani Poliʻahu

Published May 13, 2025 at 12:00 AM HST

Pāʻani means to play, or a sport, game, or amusement. Pāʻani can also mean to joke.

Pāʻani means to play, or a sport, game, or amusement. Pāʻani can also mean to joke.

Hawaiian Word of the Day

Leilani Poliʻahu

See stories by Leilani Poliʻahu

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Hawaiian Word of The Day

April 9th: Ipu

Leilani Poliʻahu

Most of us know ipu to be the gourd we see and hear in the hands of many hula dancers and chanters. But it also has other meanings – it can be used to mean any kind of container; even a dish, mug, calabash, pot, cup, urn, bowl, or a utensil.
Hawaiian Word of The Day

April 8th: Pulu

Leilani Poliʻahu

Pulu means wet, moist, soaked, saturated. When you got caught in the rain without your umbrella, pulu is the word you should've known. And if you want to soak something, just put the causative prefix ho‘o in front. Since pulu means soaked, then ho‘opulu means “to soak."