Hawaiian Word of the Day: May 26th

By Leilani Poliʻahu

Published May 26, 2025 at 12:00 AM HST

Our Hawaiian Word of the Day is often mispronounced place name, Haʻikū. It means “a sharp break or to speak abruptly,” and is often confused with the Japanese term haiku for a type of poetry.

Hawaiian Word of the Day

Leilani Poliʻahu

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Iulai is the Hawaiian name for the month of July, the seventh month of the modern calendar. Yes, Iulai is a borrowed word from English. In fact, all of the names of the months of the calendar we now use are borrowed. Since the Hawaiian calendar of months did not coincide with that of the Europeans.
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