Where does “hale kūʻai mea ʻai” come from?

hale kūʻai mea ʻai (Hawaiian) comes from Hawaiian hale kūʻai, from Hawaiian kūʻai, from Hawaiian Kū, from English stew, from English steward, from Middle English steward, from Old English stiġweard, from Old English weard — narrow, tight.

hale kūʻai mea ʻai (Hawaiian): grocery store

Definitions

  1. grocery store

Ancestry of “hale kūʻai mea ʻai”, step by step

hale kūʻai mea ʻai traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via Hawaiian hale kūʻai

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Hawaiianhale kūʻaistore, shop
2Hawaiiankūʻaito barter
3Hawaiianone of the four major gods; the god of war
4EnglishstewA cooking-dish used for boiling; a cauldron; A...
5EnglishstewardA person who manages the property or affairs for...
6Middle EnglishstewardThe administrator of a household or estate especially noble or monarchical
7Old Englishstiġweardsteward
8Old Englishweardguard; guard, the action of looking out for...
9Old Englishōraore, unwrought metal
10Old Englishēarsea, ocean; grave, earth
11Proto-Germanicahazear
12Proto-Finnicahtasnarrow, cramped
13Proto-Balticanśtas
14Proto-Indo-Europeanh₂énǵʰusnarrow, tight

via Hawaiian mea ʻai

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Hawaiianmea ʻaifood, foodstuffs, groceries
2Hawaiianmeathing, object; person; Reddish, as water full of...
3Proto-Polynesianmea
4Proto-Oceanicmeʀaqred having red as its colour
5Proto-Malayo-Polynesian(ma-)iʀaqred
Every word from Proto-Indo-European h₂énǵʰus