Wehewehe Wikiwiki Hawaiian language dictionaries

nvs., White person, American, Englishman, Caucasian; American, English; formerly, any foreigner; foreign, introduced, of foreign origin, as plants, pigs, chickens; entirely white, of pigs (Malo 37; perhaps Malo actually means of foreign introduction). References in traditional literature are few, but these have been noted: He haole nui maka ʻālohilohi (FS 201), a big foreigner with bright eyes [referring to Kamapuaʻa, the pig demigod].

• Examples:
  • Hānau ke poʻo haole, he haole kēlā (KL. line 505), born was the stranger's head, that was strange.
  • Hoʻokahi o Tahiti kānaka, he haole (Kualiʻi chant, For. 4:375) only one people in Tahiti, foreigners.
  • ʻĀina haole, foreign land.
  • ʻŌlelo haole, European language, especially English.
• Related:
  • hoʻohaole Caus/sim.; To act like a white person, to ape the white people, or assume airs of superiority [often said disparagingly, especially of half-whites].
    • Hoʻohaole ʻia, Americanized, Europeanized; to have become like a white person or have adopted the ways of a white man.
• References:
  • See kolea #1.
  • Marquesan haoʻe is probably a loan from Hawaiian.