Etymology Explorer › Hawaiian

Where does “kahuna” come from?

kahuna (Hawaiian) comes from Hawaiian -na, from Proto-Polynesian -ŋa.

kahuna (Hawaiian): priest, sorcerer, magician, minister, wizard;...

Definitions

  1. priest, sorcerer, magician, minister, wizard;...

Ancestry of “kahuna”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Hawaiian-naCommon nominalizing suffix, sometimes with...
2Proto-Polynesian-ŋa—

Words derived from “kahuna”

  • kahuna
  • big kahuna
Every word from Proto-Polynesian -ŋa →