Hawaiian Word of the Day: September 30th

By Leilani Poliʻahu

Published September 30, 2025 at 12:00 AM HST

Kuene means: waiter, waitress, steward, treasurer, to wait on a table, to put in order, to arrange or to lay out. We most often use kuene for those who wait on us in restaurants.

Hawaiian Word of the Day

Leilani Poliʻahu

See stories by Leilani Poliʻahu

More Episodes

Hawaiian Word of The Day

Hawaiian Word of the Day: September 29th

Leilani Poliʻahu

Our Hawaiian word for today is ʻAuina lā. ʻAuina means “descending” and lā means “sun.” So the afternoon when the sun is setting is called the ʻauina lā. Aloha ʻauina lā is a good afternoon greeting.
Hawaiian Word of The Day

Hawaiian Word of the Day: September 26th

Leilani Poliʻahu

Kāne is the Hawaiian word for man. You see this often in names like Kāneʻohe, which means bamboo man, and in many family names as well. It is also used for: male, husband, male sweetheart, and masculine.