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wā. noun. Time, period of time, era, age (period of time). Compare with au, manawa.![]()
wā. noun. Fret. The fret of a guitar, ‘ukulele or similar musical instruments.![]()
wā. intransitive verb. To make a noise, noisy, loud. Used in the place name Wahiawā.
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wa‘a. noun. Canoe, outrigger canoe.
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waena. locative noun. Between, middle, center. Contrast with hope (after), mua (before).
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waha. noun. Mouth; one who talks too much.
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wahahe‘e. noun. Liar, a lie. Literally "slippery mouth." Also see he‘e, waha. Compare with punipuni (liar).![]()
wahahe‘e. intransitive verb, stative verb. to lie; deceitful, lying. Also see he‘e, waha. For to lie, also compare with ho‘opunipuni, punipuni.
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wahi. noun. Place (area). The word wahi is used in the place name Wahiawā (place of noise). Compare with kahi (place).
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wahī. noun. Wrapper, envelope. Compare with wahī leka (envelope).
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Wahiawā. place name. Place of Noise. A town in the center of O‘ahu, called "place of noise" because it is said that rough seas could be heard from there.![]()
How to pronounce Wahiawā: WAH–hee–[y]uh–
.
Wahiawā is comprised of three words, wahi (place) + a (of) + wā (noise). Wahiawā is a four syllable word, but it is commonly mispronounced as a three syllable word because the middle a and the kahakō are ignored, so it is incorrectly pronounced like wah-HEE-wah with stress on CAPITALIZED syllables. It should be pronounced as a four syllable word with a y-glide and the last syllable is longer in pronunciation because of the kahakō; hence the stretching of the AH in the last syllable. It should be pronounced something like WAH–hee–[y]uh–
. Also see a, wā, wahi.
See the Wahiawā entry in the Hawai‘i Place Names Category.
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wahī ‘eha. noun. Bandage. Literally "injury wrapper." Also see ‘eha, wahī.
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wahī leka. noun. Envelope. Literally "letter envelope." Also see leka, wahī.
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wahine. noun. Woman, female, wife. The picture above shows a plaque used on the door of a women's restroom. Contrast with kāne (male).
See the wahine entry in the Family & Relationships Category.![]()
wāhine. pluralized noun. Women, females, wives. Wahine is one of the eleven nouns that can be pluralized by lengthening the third to last syllable with a kahakō. Below is a list of the eleven nouns.![]()
11 nouns that are pluralized by lengthening the third to last syllable with a kahakō:
aumākua - family gods, ‘elemākule - old men, kāhiko - old persons, kāhuna - priests, kaikamāhine - girls, kaikuāhine - sisters of a male, kānaka - people, kūpuna - grandparents, luāhine - old women, mākua - parents, wāhine - women.
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wahi noho. noun. Dwelling place, address. Literally "dwelling place." Also see noho, wahi.
Wahi noho is used in the name of this website.
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waho. locative noun. Outside. Contrast with loko (inside).
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wai. noun. Water (but not sea water), liquid of any kind. Sea water is called kai. Contrast with kai (sea water). The word wai is used in many Hawai‘i place names such as Ala Wai, Waikīkī and Waimānalo.
See the wai entry in the Food & Drink Category.![]()
wai. noun. Juice, sap, honey; liquids discharged from the body, as blood, et cetera.![]()
wai. interrogative. Who. Used only in questions.![]()
wai. intransitive verb. Deposit. For the meaning of deposit, wai is used less often than waiho. Compare with waiho.
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Wai‘anae. place name. Mullet water. Wai (water) + ‘anae (mullet fish) = mullet water. Also see ‘anae, wai. A mountain range and a town on the leeward side of O‘ahu.
See the Wai‘anae entry in the Hawai‘i Place Names Category.
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wai hau. noun. Ice water. Also see hau, wai.
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waiho. transitive verb. To leave (to leave something), to deposit. Waiho is a contraction, or what the PE dictionary calls a "coalescence", of the two words wai (deposit) + iho (directional).
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waihona. noun. Depository, closet, cabinet, vault. A contraction of three words; wai (deposit) + iho (dirctional) + -na (nominalizing suffix). Also see iho, na-, wai.
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waiho‘olu‘u. noun, verb. Color, dye. Literally "dipping water." Also see ho‘olu‘u, wai.
For differnet color names, see white: kea, ke‘oke‘o; gray: ‘āhinahina, hina, hinahina; black: ‘ele, ‘ele‘ele; brown: palaunu; red: ‘ula, ‘ula‘ula; pink: ‘ākala; orange: ‘alani; gold: kula; yellow: melemele; green: ‘ōma‘oma‘o; blue: polū; purple: poni.
Also see the Color Category.
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wai hua ‘ai. noun. Fruit juice. Also see ‘ai, hua, hua ‘ai, wai.
See the wai hua ‘ai entry in the Food & Drink Category.
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Waikīkī. place name. Spouting water. Literally "spouting (kīkī) water (wai)." Also see kīkī, wai.
See the Waikīkī entry in the Hawai‘i Place Names Category.
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wailele. noun. Waterfall. Literally "leaping water." Also see lele, wai.
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wai lemi. noun. Lemonade. Also see lemi, wai.
See the wai lemi entry in the Food & Drink Category.
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Waimānalo. place name. Potable water. Wai (water) + mānalo (potable) = potable water. A small town on the southern tip of windward O‘ahu. I have a pet peeve about the pronunciation of the word potable. It is not pronounced pot-a-ble (pot-uh-buhl) like so many people pronounce the word. The correct pronunciation of potable is po-ta-ble (poh-tuh-buhl). Po-ta-ble water is drinkable water and pot-a-ble water is the water in a water pipe and is not drinkable unless you are a doper. Also see mānalo, wai.
See the Waimānalo entry in the Hawai‘i Place Names Category.
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waina. noun. Wine. Transliterated from the English "wine."
See the waina entry in the Food & Drink Category.![]()
waina. noun. Depository. Used in the Hawaiian name of the Punchbowl crater, an extinct volcanic tuff cone located in Honolulu. Since 1948, Punchbowl has been the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific. The Hawaiian name for the Punchbowl is Pūowaina. Pūowaina means "hill (pū) of (o) deposits (waina)", a reference by the Hawaiians to the human sacrifices for which this place was used.
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wai ‘ona. noun. Intoxicating liquor or spirits, liquor. Also see ‘ona, wai. For different types of liquor, see ‘awa (kava, not a liquor, but a narcotic drink), kini (gin), lama (rum), Mai Tai (a cocktail), ‘ōkolehao (ti root spirit), pia (beer), waina (wine). Also, a transliterated term for alcohol is ‘akekohola.
See the wai ‘ona entry in the Food & Drink Category.
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Waipahū. place name. Bursting water. Literally "bursting (pahū) water (wai)." Also see pahū, wai. A town and stream on O‘ahu. According to Place Names of Hawai‘i it was originally spelled with a kahakō as Waipahū. Now spelling it as Waipahu without the kahakō seems to be an accepted Hawaiian spelling according to the PE dictionary on page 301 under the pahu entry. Usually when the ‘okina and/or kahakō is stripped from the spelling of a Hawaiian word it renders the word meaningless, but in this case we still have a meaningful name. Also it is very unusual that the meanings with or without the kahakō are very similar. Waipahu means "pushing (pahu) water" and is said to be named for the water that pushed its way out of the ground at this place.
See the Waipahū entry in the Hawai‘i Place Names Category.![]()
wai pahū. (not Capitalized) noun. Geyser. Also see pahū, wai. Wai pahū is the term for geyser given by the PE dictionary. Compare with the term waipelekī, given by Māmaka Kaiao.
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waipelekī. noun. Geyser. Waipelekī = wai + pele + kī. Waipelekī is the term given by the Māmaka Kaiao. Compare with the term wai pahū, given by the PE dictionary. Also see kī, pele, wai.
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Waipi‘o. place name. Curved water. Literally "curved (pi‘o) water (wai)." Town, peninsula and stream on O‘ahu. Also see pi‘o, wai.
See the Waipi‘o entry in the Hawai‘i Place Names Category.
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waiū. noun. Milk; breast. Literally "breast (ū) liquid (wai)." The picture shows chocolate milk. For the Hawaiian word for chocolate, see kokoleka. Also see ū, wai.
See the waiū entry in the Food & Drink Category.
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waiūpa‘a. noun. Cheese. Literally "solidified milk." Also see pa‘a, waiū.
See the waiūpa‘a entry in the Food & Drink Category.
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waiūpaka. noun. Butter. Also see paka, waiū.
See the waiūpaka entry in the Food & Drink Category.
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waiwai. noun. Goods, property, assets, wealth.![]()
waiwai. stative verb. Rich, wealthy. Contrast with ‘ilihune (poor).
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Wākea. proper noun. Mythical ancestor of the Hawaiians. Wākea is also called "sky father" and was married to Pāpā who was also called "earth mother." Also see variant spelling of Ākea. Contrast with Pāpā.
See the Wākea entry in the Gods, Demigods and Mythical Beings Category.
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wā keiki. noun. Childhood. Also see keiki, wā.
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Wakinekona. place name. Washington. Transliterated from English "Washington." The picture above shows the United States Capitol building in Washington D.C.
See the Wakinekona entry in the Non-Hawaiian Place Names Category.
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wala‘au. intransitive verb. Talk, speak, converse; formally and previously, to speak loudly.
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wale. particle. This word has many meanings like: only, just, very, freely, easily, casually. Wale is a particle that is commonly used after a word to add emphasis.
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wale nō. particle. Only, just.
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walu. noun. Oilfish.
See the walu entry in the Sea Life Category.
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wana. noun. Sea urchin.
See the wana entry in the Sea Life Category.![]()
wana. noun. Ray of light, streak of light. A long stream or streak of light, as a ray of light.
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wana‘ā. noun. Laser. Literally "fiery stream of light." This term is not in the PE dictionary, but can be found in the Māmaka Kaiao. Also see ‘ā, wana.
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wānana. noun. Prediction, prophecy.![]()
wānana. transitive verb. To predict, prophesy.
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wanila. noun, stative verb. Vanilla. Transliterated from English "vanilla."
See the wanila entry in the Food & Drink Category.
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wau. pronoun. I. A variant spelling of au (I). Also see au.
For a chart of the personal pronouns, see palapala kuhikuhi o nā paniinoa pilikino.
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