Wehewehe Wikiwiki Hawaiian language dictionaries

1. n., Candlenut tree (Aleurites moluccana 🌐), a large tree in the spurge family bearing nuts containing while, oily kernels which were formerly used for lights; hence the tree is a symbol of enlightenment. The nuts are still cooked for a relish (ʻinamona). The soft wood was used for canoes, and gum from the bark for painting tapa; black dye was obtained from nut coats and from roots, (Nuts were chewed and spat into the sea by men fishing with nets for parrot fish (kākā uhu) in order to calm the sea (FS 38–9): see ex., pili #1). Polished nuts are strung in leis; the silvery leaves and small white flowers are strung in leis as representative of Molokaʻi, as designated in 1923 by the Territorial legislature. The kukui was named the official emblem for the State of Hawaiʻi in 1959 because of its many uses and its symbolic value.

• Examples:
  • He aliʻi no ka malu kukui, a chief of the candlenut shade [chief of uncertain genealogy].
• Related:
  • Kukui is one of the plant forms of Kamapuaʻa that comes to help him (FS 215).
  • Called kuikui on Niʻihau.
• References:
  • Neal 504–7.
  • See lei kukui.

2. n., Lamp, light, torch.

• Figuratively, guide, leader.
• Examples:
  • Kukui ahi (Dan. 10.6), lamps of fire.
  • E noho ana au ā puhi kukui, I'll stay until the lights are lighted [until dark).
  • Kukui ʻā i ke awakea, torch burning in daylight [a symbol for descendants of a certain chief].
  • Ua pio ke kukui, the light is out [dead].

3. (Cap.) n., Star name (no data).

• References:
  • Kuhelani.

• Related:
  • ʻŌpuʻu kukui. Light bulb.

v., See kui, to publish. To publish; to spread, as a report; to make famous.

2. See pakui. To splice or piece out so as to lengthen, as a stick or rope.

s., The name of a tree and nut; the nut was formerly used to burn for lights; the tree produces also the gum pilali; the body of the tree was sometimes made into canoes; the bark of the root was used in coloring canoes black.

2. A lamp. 1 Sam. 3:3. A candle; a light or torch; a lighter. Kin. 1:15.

1. n., The name of a tree (Aleurites moluccana). The nut was formerly used to burn for lights; the tree produces also the gum pilali; the body of the tree was sometimes made into canoes; the bark of the root mixed with charcoal was used in coloring canoes black.

2. n., Nut of the kukui tree.

3. n., Lamp; torch; contrivance for producing artificial light.

4. n., Fig. One who leads another; a leader; a guide.

[Kui, to publish.]

1. v., To publish; to spread, as a report.

2. v., To make famous.

3. v., [Kui, to add to.] To join one thing to another. Same as pakui.

candlenut tree (Aleurites). Land section. Kaʻū. Hawaiʻi.

Kukui tree (Aleurities moluccana). For its many uses, see Plants: Uses. It supplies a brown dye from its inner bark, and a black dye is made from the burnt soot of the ripe nuts. (NEAL 506.) Native.

The kukui nut cooked as a relish. See ʻinamona.

Lamp, torch, light; candlenut.

Tree and its nut. The nut was used to burn for light; the tree produced gum (pilali) for resin and wax. The body of the tree was occasionally made into canoes; the bark of the root was used in coloring canoes black.

Candlenut tree (Aleurites moluccana). Supplied many medicinal items: the rich, uncooked nut was used as a drastic purge; juice of the bark was a therapy for asthma; a mouthwash was prepared from the very bitter juice of the shell of an unripe nut; and a concoction similarly gave relief to ʻea (coated tongue).

Candlenut tree (Aleurites moluccana). (NEAL 504.) See Plants: Uses.

Candlenut tree (Aleurites moluccana), common in Hawaiʻi. Its flowers and seeds are popularly used for leis. The rind of the green nut is used to make a black dye. Formerly, the oily kernels were dried and strung for candles, and the oil was burned in stone lamps. The rich, uncooked nut is a drastic purge. Oil cake is a good fertilizer. The crushed kernels make an excellent drying oil for varnish and medicine. Canoes were made of the soft wood. The kukui is the state tree of Hawaiʻi. (NEAL 504; KILO.)

Tree favored for the usefulness of its parts. The nut was formerly crushed for oil that was widely used as fuel for lamps. The body of the tree was occasionally made into canoes. Bark supplied the gum pilali. It is now the official state tree of Hawaiʻi.

candle-nut; lamp; torch.