Wehewehe Wikiwiki Hawaiian language dictionaries

1. n., A new shoot, leaf, or bud, especially of taro.

• References:
  • UL 17.
  • Cf. ʻahu ʻao, ʻao kahi, ʻao lūʻau.
  • PCP kao.

2. n., Dried baked taro or sweet potato; in Kaʻū this food was hung in baskets in the wind so that it dehydrated; it was used on sea journeys and is perhaps related to ō, sea rations.

• References:
  • PCP kao.

3. n., Ship biscuit, pilot bread, hardtack.

1. nvi. Light, day, daylight, dawn; to dawn, grow light; enlightened; to regain consciousness.

• Examples:
  • Piliwaiwai lākou ā ao ka pō, they gambled until night became day [all night long, until dawn].
  • Kēlā pō ā ao aʻe i nehinei, night before last; lit., that night that dawned yesterday.
  • Ā ao ka pō ā pō ke ao, when night becomes day until the day becomes night [for a night and a day].
  • Ua ao mai ka noʻonoʻo, the mind is functioning.
• Related:
  • hoʻāo Caus/sim.
    • a. To marry; marriage (old term, probably literally, to stay until daylight).
    • b. (Cap.) Night of the day called Huna, eleventh night of the month, when the hoʻāo nuptials took place. (PPN ʻaho.)
• References:
  • Cf. aokanaka.

2. n. Any kind of a cloud, including ʻōpua, but specifically, high clouds that when wind-blown scud along (kaʻa).

• Examples:
  • Ao kai lilo a Kāne, a cloud over the distant sea of Kāne [away out, where only cloud and sea are seen].
• References:
  • See ex., pūnohu #1, and cf. aokū, ao loa, ao ʻōnohi, aouli, ʻōpua, pālāmoa, pāpalamoa, puapuaʻa.
  • PPN ʻao.

3. n. World, earth, realm.

• Examples:
  • Ke ao o Milu, the realm of the underworld.

4. vt. To be careful, beware, watch out.

• Examples:
  • E ao naʻe ʻoe iā Kalahumoku (For. 5:413), beware then of Kalahumoku.
  • E ao ʻoe o ʻeha, be careful or you'll be hurt.

5. Rare variant of wao, upland area.

• Rare

6. idiom, The exact image of (preceded by a ʻe).

• Examples:
  • ʻO ka makuahine nō a ʻe ao, the image of the mother.

7. n. A kind of fine mat.

8. n. A kind of fish (no data).

• References:
  • KL. line 149.

1. nvt., Instruction, teaching, doctrine, learning, instruction book, manual, advice, counsel; to learn, teach, advise, instruct, train, tutor, coach, prescribe, admonish.

• Examples:
  • E aʻo kākou iā ʻoe i ke kino lele o kō wahine (For. 4:73), we will teach you the flying power [literally, body] of your wife.
  • Na wai ʻoe i aʻo? Who taught you?

• Related:
  • Many kinds of instruction are listed as aʻo heluhelu, aʻo hōkū, aʻo kiko, aʻo loko, aʻo palapala, aʻo piliʻōlelo.
  • Aʻo ikaika, aʻo ʻoʻoleʻa, teach harshly, discipline.
  • ʻŌlelo aʻo, advice, precept, instruction.
  • Aʻo poko, briefly taught; to learn a little [said of lowly individuals].
  • Lohe mai ke aʻo, idiomatic intensifier, as in Kalohe ā lohe mai ke aʻo, mischievous beyond boundary.
  • Nani ā lohe mai ke aʻo, extremely beautiful.
  • hoʻāʻo Caus/sim.; To test, try, attempt, taste, undertake, experiment, endeavor, tempt (Kin. 22.1); to do a little (equivalent of the pidgin English “try” before verbs; see ex., kuhi hewa).
    • Poʻe e hoʻāʻo ana, contestants.
    • E hoʻāʻo mai ana ʻoe e hīmeni? Won't you sing a little? [Pidgin, “try sing”]
• References:
  • See lohe for idioms.
  • PPN ako.

2. Particle replacing o, of, and ʻo, subject marker, in songs.

• Examples:
  • ʻO nā pali aʻo Koʻolau Loa, the cliffs of Koʻolau Loa.
  • Lapakū ka wahine aʻo Pele, the woman, Pele, is very active.
• References:
  • Gram. 2.8, 9.13.

n., Newell's puffin or shearwater (Puffinus puffinis newelli), said to be the only sea bird endemic to Hawaiʻi, and to breed only in Hawaiʻi; glossy black above, white beneath; endangered.

• Examples:
  • Hoʻokahi nō hua a ka ʻaʻo, the ʻaʻo lays but a single egg [said of an only child].
• Related:
  • Also: liʻo.