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Our Hawaiian word for today is aniani, something we all see, or see through every day. A common meaning for aniani is glass. We modify it for special meanings, such as aniani nānā for mirror, or aniani awe for fiber glass. It can be the modifier such as puka aniani for window. -
Kaimukī, the name for a section of Honolulu, is another name often mispronounced by those familiar with the common Hawaiian word kai. Kaimukī means “the ti oven” and is a compound word made up of ka for “the,” imu for “oven,” and kī for “ti.”
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Ala kalaiwa means driveway. You often see Ala used to mean street, path, or way. As in Ala Moana or Ala Wai. Kalaiwa means drive, and since modifiers follow nouns in Hawaiian, we say ala kalaiwa for driveway. -
ʻAina kakahiaka is how we say breakfast in Hawaiian, and that is our Hawaiian Word of the Day. ʻAina means meal, and kakahiaka means morning. -
Pehea means how or what. It is most often heard in the greeting “Pehea ʻoe?” It is used by both Hawaiian speakers and many who know only a few words. Pehea ʻoe? – How are you? -
Hoʻoponopono means to make right. And it is a Hawaiian way of putting things in order, settling problems by sitting down together and talking it out. Hoʻoponopono is something we should all be aware of and practice. -
Our Hawaiian word for today is a famous Kaua‘i place name, Waiʻaleʻale. It means “rippling, or overflowing water.” Waiʻaleʻale is the highest mountain on Kauaʻi, and boasts an annual rainfall of more than 475 inches a year. -
Heiau is often mispronounced by people who put in a glottal stop that doesn't belong there. A heiau is a pre-Christian place of worship, commonly referred to in English as a Hawaiian temple, or shrine. -
Punahou is a very well-known Hawaiian word, mostly because it is the name of one of our oldest schools, and it means new spring. In fact, Punahou School was named because of a spring at that location. -
Our Hawaiian Word of the Day is wailele or waterfall. Literally, wailele means leaping water. And although it is a generic term, it is also used in many place names and songs. Such as the popular Wailele ʻO ʻAkaka. -
Puʻuwai is Hawaiian for heart. And while it is often used as a center of emotions, that is probably a Western concept. The earliest reference to the heart in that context was in 1853. -
Hemolele most often heard in conjunction with things religious, means “perfect, faultless, flawless, holy, immaculate, saintly.” As in ka ʻUhane Hemolele, the Holy Spirit.
