Where does “mea ʻai” come from?

mea ʻai (Hawaiian) comes from Hawaiian ʻai, from Proto-Polynesian kai, from Proto-Oceanic kani, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian kaən, from Proto-Austronesian kaən — to eat.

mea ʻai (Hawaiian): food, foodstuffs, groceries

Definitions

  1. food, foodstuffs, groceries

Ancestry of “mea ʻai”, step by step

mea ʻai traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via Hawaiian ʻai

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Hawaiianʻaifood; in particular, any food that is not fish;...
2Proto-Polynesiankaifood
3Proto-Oceanickanito eat consume
4Proto-Malayo-Polynesiankaənto eat
5Proto-Austronesiankaənto eat

via Hawaiian mea

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Hawaiianmeathing, object; person; Reddish, as water full of...
2Proto-Polynesianmea—
3Proto-Oceanicmeʀaqred having red as its colour
4Proto-Malayo-Polynesian(ma-)iʀaqred

Words derived from “mea ʻai”

Every word from Proto-Austronesian kaən →
mea ʻai — Etymology, Origin & Word History | Etymology Explorer