hiamoe. noun, intransitive verb. Sleep; to sleep. Compare with moe.

 
hiapo. noun. First born, eldest child in a family.
   See the hiapo entry in the Family & Relationships Category.

 
hiki. noun, stative verb. Can; to be able; possible.

hiki. intransitive verb. To arrive.

 
hikina. noun. East. Contrast with ‘ākau, hema, komohana.

hikina. (Capitalized) noun. Orient.
   See the hikina entry in the Non-Hawaiian Place Names Category.

hikina. noun. Coming, advent.

 
hilahila. stative verb. Bashful, shy, embarrassed.

 
hīmeni. noun. Song, hymn. Compare with mele (song).

hīmeni. transitive verb. To sing.

 
hina. stative verb. Gray.
   See the hina entry in the Color Category.

Hina. (Capitalized) proper noun. A moon goddess.
   See the hina entry in the Gods, Demigods and Mythical Beings Category.

 
hinahina. stative verb. Gray, grayish.
   See the hinahina entry in the Color Category.

hinahina. noun. The silversword plant. Hinahina is another name for the silversword plant, but it is better known as the ‘āhinahina.
   See the hinahina entry in the Plants Category.

 
hipa. noun. Sheep. Transliterated from English "sheep." The word hipa is used in the place name Kahuhipa (sheep attendant).
   See the hipa entry in the Animals Category.

 
hoa. noun. Friend, companion. Compare with hoaloha.
   See the hoa entry in the Family & Relationships Category.

 
hoahānau. noun. Cousin. Also see hānau, hoa.
   See the hoahānau entry in the Family & Relationships Category.

 
hō‘ailona. noun. Sign, symbol, insignia, emblem, badge. The picture above shows a Hawaii Five-O police badge. Some people will tell you that Hawaii Five-O was a fictional police agency, but it was on TV, so we all know it was real. I bet those people would also like us to believe that there were no such things as KAOS, the international organization of evil and CONTROL, a U.S. government counter-intelligence agency. Compare with pihi (badge).

 
hoaloha. noun. Friend. Contraction of hoa and aloha which literally means "beloved friend" and sometimes written as "hoa aloha." Also see aloha, hoa.
   See the hoaloha entry in the Family & Relationships Category.

 
hō‘alu. transitive verb. To loosen, slacken, bend down, stoop. Hō‘alu is used in the term for slack key guitar (kī hō‘alu).

 
ho‘ā‘o. transitive verb. To try, attempt, test, taste, undertake, experiment, endeavor. This word uses the ho‘- version of ho,o- and the word a‘o. The a has been lengthened with a kahakō to a long vowel. Also see ho‘o-, a‘o.

 
hoa pili. noun. Close friend, intimate friend, personal friend. Also see hoa, pili.
   See the hoa pili entry in the Family & Relationships Category.

 
hō‘au‘au. transitive verb. To give a bath. This word uses the hō- version of ho‘o-. Also see ‘au‘au, ho‘o-.

 
hoe. noun, transitive verb. Paddle, oar; to paddle, row.

 
hohono. noun. Bad smelling, acrid body odor. This bad smell refers only to body odor. Compare with pilau (stench).

 
ho‘i. intransitive verb. To return, come back, go back.

 
hoihoi. intransitive verb. interesting.

 
ho‘iho‘i. transitive verb. To return something, restore.

 
hoihoi ‘ole. intransitive verb. Boring, uninteresting, unpleasant. Also see hoihoi, ‘ole. Contrast with hoihoi (interesting).

 
hō‘ike. transitive verb. To show, display, exhibit, demonstrate. This word uses the hō- version of ho‘o-. Also see ho‘o-, ‘ike.

 
hō‘ike‘ike. transitive verb. To show, display, exhibit, demonstrate. A reduplicative version of hō‘ike. It uses the hō- version of ho‘o-. Also see ho‘o-, ‘ike.

 
ho‘i mai. Come back. Also see ho‘i, mai.

 
hoka. noun. Frustration.
hoka. intransitive verb. Disappointed, baffled.

  
hōkele. noun. Hotel. Transliterated from English "hotel." The pictures above show the two oldest hotels in Waikīkī. The Royal Hawaiian Hotel also called "Pink Palace of the Pacific" opened in 1927 and the Moana Hotel also called "First Lady of Waikīkī" opened in 1901.

 
hoki. noun. Mule.
   See the hoki entry in the Animals Category.

 
hoku. noun. Night of the full moon.

 
hōkū. noun. Star. The word hōkū is probably best know because of its usage in the name for the double-hulled voyaging canoe of the Honolulu based Polynesian Voyaging Society called the Hōkūle‘a. Hōkūle‘a means "joyous star." Hōkū is also the abbreviated name for the award given at the premier Hawai‘i music industry awards ceremony called the Nā Hōkū Hanohano Awards. The first annual award ceremony took place in 1978 and the picture above shows the front and back of a medallion that was given out some time in the 80's. The phrase "Ua mau ke nani o Hawai‘i i ka mele" means "The beauty of Hawaii is preserved in song."

    
hola. noun. Hour, time (clock time), o'clock. Transliterated from English "hour." The pictures above show the clock of the Aloha Tower.

 
holo. intransitive verb. To run, sail, ride, go. Holo is used in the name of a street in Waikīkī called Holomoana Street (seaman, seafarer).

 
holoholo. intransitive verb. To go for a run, ride, sail; to go out for pleasure, stroll, promenade.

 
holoholona. noun. Animal, beast.
   See the holoholona entry in the Animals Category.

 
holoi. transitive verb. To wash, erase.

 
holokū. noun. A loose-fitting gown. A long loose-fitting dress with a yoke and long sleeves. The holokū is similar to the mu‘umu‘u, but the holokū is more complicated in construction and considered more formal and may also have a train. The holokū was also called a Mother Hubbard dress. It is a remnant of the Victorian era and was designed to cover more skin than the mu‘umu‘u. Compare with mu‘umu‘u.

 
hōlua. noun. Hawaiian sled. A Hawaiian sled used in ancient times for sport on grassy slopes.

 
home. noun. Home. Transliterated from English "home."

 
honi. noun, transitive verb. Kiss; to kiss; formally to touch noses in greeting.

honi. transitive verb. To smell, sniff.

 
honihoni. transitive verb. To kiss repeatedly, smell repeatedly or sniff repeatedly. A reduplication of honi.

 
Hono-. noun suffix. Bay, valley. (used only in place names). Used in the place name Honolulu. Hono- + lulu = "sheltered bay" or "protected bay." Compare with Hana-.

 
Honolulu. place name. Sheltered bay or protected bay. Literally "sheltered or protected (lulu) bay (Hono-)."The capital of the State of Hawai‘i and the only incorporated city in the state. In 1845, Kamehameha III moved the capital of the Hawaiian Kingdom from Lāhainā to Honolulu and purchased a stately house which became the first Hale Ali‘i (royal palace) in Honolulu. Also see Hono- (bay), lulu (sheltered).
   See the Honolulu entry in the Hawai‘i Place Names Category.

    
honu. noun. Turtle. Honu is a generic term for sea turtle, but honu is specifically used for the green sea turtle and not the ‘ea (hawksbill turtle). The green turtle got its name not because it is green on the outside, but because its meat is green.
   See the honu entry in the Sea Life Category.

 
honua. noun. Land, world, earth. Compare with ao (earth, world), ‘āina (land).

 
ho‘o-. prefix. An important and much used prefix whose effect is usually causative or simulative. Variations of ho‘o- are ho-, hō-, ho‘- and hō‘-. A variation of ho‘o- is used depending on the spelling of the root word that follows this prefix. All the variant spellings have the same effect as ho‘o-.
Below is a list of its effect, in no particular order:
1). Causative - Changes the meaning of a stative verb X to "cause to be X."
Example a: ho‘o- + ponopono (correct) = ho‘oponopono (to correct)
Example b: ho‘o- + makapō (blindness) = ho‘omakapō (to cause blindness)
2). Simulative (similarity) - Changes the meaning of X to "act like X."
Example: ho‘o- + haole (white person) = ho‘ohaole (to act like a white person)
3). Pretense (feigning or pretending)
Example: ho‘o- + makapō (blindness) = ho‘omakapō (to feign blindness) Compare with 1b.
4). No meaning - The ho‘o- makes no difference in the meaning.
Example: ho‘o- + kāholoholo (to hurry) = ho‘okāholoholo (to hurry)
5). Different meaning
Example: ho‘o- + maika‘i (good) = ho‘omaika‘i (to congratulate)

 
ho‘ohanohano. transitive verb. To honor. Also see hanohano, ho‘o-.

 
ho‘ohele. transitive verb. To cause to go, to walk a person or thing (like a dog), to start (as a car or stopwatch). Also see hele, ho‘o-.

 
ho‘ohenehene. transitive verb. To laugh at, tease, mock, ridicule. Also see ho‘o-.

 
ho‘oilina, ho‘īlina. noun. Heir, inheritance, legacy, heritage. I show a variant spelling of ho‘oilina, so maybe I am unnecessarily complicating things, but I thought ho‘īlina was an interesting variant spelling.

 
ho‘oilo, ho‘īlo. noun. Winter, rainy season. Ho‘īlo is an variant spelling of ho‘oilo. Contrast with kupulau (spring), kau wela (summer), hā‘ule lau (fall).

 
ho‘okahi. number. One, one only, alone. Also see ho‘o-, kahi.

 
ho‘okani. transitive verb. To play a musical instrument or drum. Also see ho‘o-, kani.

 
ho‘okani pila. transitive verb. To play music (as with a musical intrument). Also see ho‘okani, pila.

 
ho‘okipa. transitive verb. To entertain, hospitable, hospitality. Hospitality seems to be the most common translation used in the tourist industry. Also see ho‘o-, kipa.

 
ho‘olaule‘a. Noun, transitive verb. Celebration, festival, gathering for a celebration; to hold a celebration, to celebrate. Also see ho‘o-, laule‘a.

 
ho‘olimalima. transitive verb. To rent, hire, employ, lease. Also see ho‘o-, limalima.

 
ho‘olohe. transitive verb. To listen. Also see ho‘o-, lohe. Contrast with lohe (to hear).

 
ho‘ololi. transitive verb. To change, convert, take a new form, exchange, alter, amend. Also see ho‘o-, loli.

 
ho‘oluhi. transitive verb. To bother, disturb, trouble, inconvenience. Also see ho‘o-.

 
ho‘olu‘u. transitive verb. To dip, immerse, dye. Also see ho‘o-, lu‘u.

 
hō‘olu‘olu. transitive verb. To soothe, ease, make comfortable. Hō‘olu‘olu = hō- (a version of ho‘o- used before words that begin with an ‘okina or a vowel) + ‘olu‘olu. Also see ho‘o-, ‘olu‘olu.

 
ho‘oma‘ama‘a. transitive verb. To practice, become used to, become accustomed. Ho‘oma‘ama‘a = ho‘o + reduplicative version of ma‘a. Also see ho‘o-, ma‘a.

 
ho‘oma‘ema‘e. transitive verb. To clean. Also see ho‘o-, ma‘ema‘e.

 
ho‘omaka. transitive verb. To begin, start, commence. Also see ho‘o-, maka.

 
ho‘omākaukau. transitive verb. To prepare, make ready. Also see ho‘o-, mākaukau.

 
ho‘omalimali. transitive verb. To flatter. Also see ho‘o-.

  
ho‘omana‘o. transitive verb. To remember, recall, commemorate. Rememeber Pearl Harbor, but Never Forget September 11th. Also see ho‘o-, mana‘o. Contrast with poina (forget).

 
ho‘omau. transitive verb. To continue, perpetuate, persist. Also see ho‘o-, mau.

 
ho‘onāukiuki. transitive verb. To provoke, annoy. Also see ho‘o-.

 
ho‘onoho. transitive verb. To set. To set, as a table or old fashioned printing type. Also see ho‘o-, noho.

 
ho‘opa‘a. transitive verb. To make fast, make firm, make hard, make solid, to fasten; to learn, study. Also see ho‘o-, pa‘a.

 
ho‘opa‘a ha‘awina. transitive verb. To study assignments. Compare with a‘o mai (to learn). Also see ha‘awina, ho‘opa‘a.

  
ho‘opau. transitive verb. To consume, waste, to finish, to get rid of, terminate, conclude, stop, cancel, revoke, repeal, abolish, to dismiss (as from work). Also see ho‘o-, pau. People see blue stop signs in Hawai‘i, they find it unusual and wonder why. The short answer is that blue (and sometimes, green) stop signs are used only on private property so as not to resemble official red stop signs. For a more detailed answer read a 2006 article from the archives of the Star-Bulletin.

 
ho‘opaumanawa. transitive verb. To waste time. Also see ho‘o-, manawa, pau.

 
ho‘opiha. transitive verb. To fill. Also see hoo-, piha.

 
ho‘opono. transitive verb. To behave correctly. Also see ho‘o-, pono.

 
ho‘oponopono. transitive verb. To set to rights, to put in order, to correct, to rectify, to make neat and orderly, amend, adjust, restore balance within an individual and/or family. Also see ho‘o-, pono.

 
ho‘opulapula. transitive verb. To rehabilitate, rehabilitation.

 
ho‘opunipuni. To lie, cheat. Also see ho‘o-, punipuni. Compare with wahahe‘e (to lie).

 
hope. locative noun. Behind, after, late, last (final). Contrast with mua (before), waena (between).

hope. locative noun. Back, rear.

 
hopena. noun. Result, consequence, conclusion, ending.

 
hopena pule. noun. Weekend. Also see hopena, pule.

 
hopu. noun. Seizure, arrest, taking.

hopu. transitive verb. To seize, catch, arrest, grasp, capture, take. Compare lālau (seize, grasp), lawe aku (take).

 
hou. stative verb. New, fresh, recent. Hou is used in the expression "hau‘oli makahiki hou" which means "happy new year."

hou. stative verb. Again, more. Hou is used in the phrase "Ā hui hou" which means "until [we] meet again" and in the phrase "Hana hou" which means "encore" or "do again."

 
hua. noun. Fruit, egg, seed.
   See the hua entry in the Food & Drink Category.
   See the hua entry in the Plants Category.

hua. noun. Testicles.

hua. noun. Word, letter (writing symbol).

 
hua ‘ai. noun. Edible fruit or seed. Also see ‘ai, hua.
   See the hua ‘ai entry in the Food & Drink Category.
   See the hua ‘ai entry in the Plants Category.

 
huahelu. noun. Figure, number (numerical symbol). Also see helu, hua.

 
hua kumu. noun. Alphabet. Literally "basic letters." To see the names for all of the Hawaiian letters, see hua palapala. Also see hua, kumu.

 
hua makekemia. noun. Macadamia nut. The nut from the Macadamia tree. The Macadamia tree is not native to Hawai‘i, but came from Australia. Also see hua, makekemia.
   See the hua makekemia entry in the Food & Drink Category.
   See the hua makekemia entry in the Plants Category.

 
hua moa. noun. Chicken egg. Also see hua, moa.
   See the hua moa entry in the Food & Drink Category.

 
hua ‘ōlelo. noun. Word, term. Also see hua, ‘ōlelo.

 
hua palapala. noun. Letter of the alphabet. Literally "writing letter." Also see hua, palapala. The Hawaiian alphabet has 5 vowels (leokani) and 8 consonants (leokanipū) for a total of 13 letters; a, e, i, o, u, h, k, l, m, n, p, w and ‘ (‘okina). The picture above shows the names of the Hawaiian letters. For the entries of the names of the Hawiian letters, see ‘ā, ‘ē, ‘ī, ‘ō, ‘ū, hē, kē, lā, mū, nū, pī, wē, ‘okina.

 
hūhū. intransitive verb. Angry, mad. The Pukui / Elbert dictionary and other resources show the spelling of this word with only one kahakō (huhū), but I have been taught it is spelled with two kahakō.

 
hui. noun. Club, association, society (club), corporation, institution, group.

hui. intransitive verb. To meet, associate, congregate. Compare with hālāwai (to meet).

hui. intransitive verb. To join, unite.

 
huila. noun. Wheel. Transliterated from English "wheel."

 
huki. transitive verb. To pull or tug, as a rope.

 
hukilau. noun, intransitive verb. A seine; to fish with a seine. A seine is a horizontally long fishing net with floats on the top and weights on the bottom. A Hawaiian seine used wood floats on the top rope and laukī (ti leaves) were attached to the top rope to distract and confuse the fish. The bottom of the net was weighed down with stone weights. The method for using the hukilau was to deploy the net off shore, then pulling the net toward the shore to corral the fish into a smaller and smaller space. Hukilau literally means "pull leaf (or leaves)", but the translation sometimes given is "pull rope"; however "rope" in Hawaiian is "kaula." Also see huki, kaula (rope), lau.

 
hula. noun, transitive verb. The hula dance, hula dancer, to dance the hula.

 
huli. intransitive verb. To turn.

huli. noun. The top of the taro corm used for planting. A slice of the very top of the taro (kalo) corm about half an inch thick with about 9 inches of the base of the leaf stem left on the corm as part of the huli. The huli was used to plant and propagate the taro.
   See the huli entry in the Plants Category.

 
hulihuli. intransitive verb. To turn repeatedly. A reduplication of huli. Huluhuli is a Hawaiian word most everyone in Hawai‘i understands because it is used to describe a popular cuisine called hulihuli chicken. Hulihuli chicken is broiled or barbequed on a grill or rotisserie and called hulihuli because the chicken turns on a rotisserie or is turned (or flipped) on the grill.

 
hulu. noun. Feather.

 
humu. noun. Seam, stitich.

humu. transitive verb. To sew, to stitch, to bind (as a book).

 
humuhumu. noun. Trigger fish.
   See the humuhumu entry in the Sea Life Category.

 
humuhumunukunukuāpua‘a. noun. A trigger fish (Rhinecanthus aculeatus). Literally "trigger fish with a snout like a pig " or literally "trigger fish (humuhumu) with a snout (nukunuku, a reduplication of nuku) like a pig (pua‘a)." Also see humuhumu, nuku, pua‘a.
This term refers to a specific type of trigger fish, which is also the state fish of Hawai‘i. It is often claimed that the word humuhumunukunukuāpua‘a is the longest Hawaiian word. This word has 22 letters. Rememeber the ‘okina is a letter, actually a consonant. There is another fish called the lauwiliwilinukunuku‘oi‘oi and its name has 25 letters. It is longer in letter count, but shorter in print because lauwiliwilinukunuku‘oi‘oi has thinner letters like l and i, while humuhumunukunukuāpua‘a has wider letters like m. I do not know what word is the longest Hawaiian word.
   See the humuhumunukunukuāpua‘a entry in the Sea Life Category.

 
hūnā. transitive verb. To hide (an object, not to hide oneself). Compare with pe‘e (intransitive verb, to hide oneself).

 
hūpō. noun. Fool, foolishness.

hūpō. stative verb. Stupid, ignorant, foolish. Contast with akamai (smart).

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