Where does “Hawaiian” come from?
Hawaiian derives from English Hawaii, from Hawaiian Hawaiʻi, from Proto-Polynesian Sawaiki, with the English adjective suffix ultimately from Latin -anus, a suffix forming adjectives from nouns.
Hawaiian (English): Descended from the peoples inhabiting the...
Definitions
- Descended from the peoples inhabiting the...
Ancestry of “Hawaiian”, step by step
Hawaiian traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English Hawaii
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | Hawaii | The largest of the Hawaiian Islands |
| 2 | Hawaiian | Hawaiʻi | Hawaiian |
| 3 | Proto-Nuclear Polynesian | Sawaiki | traditional homeland |
via French Hawaiien
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | French | Hawaiien | — |