Where does “mea ʻole” come from?
mea ʻole (Hawaiian) comes from Hawaiian mea, from Proto-Polynesian mea, from Proto-Oceanic meʀaq, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian (ma-)iʀaq — red.
mea ʻole (Hawaiian): inconsequential, trivial, unimportant
Definitions
- inconsequential, trivial, unimportant
Ancestry of “mea ʻole”, step by step
mea ʻole traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via Hawaiian mea
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hawaiian | mea | thing, object; person; Reddish, as water full of... |
| 2 | Proto-Polynesian | mea | — |
| 3 | Proto-Oceanic | meʀaq | red having red as its colour |
| 4 | Proto-Malayo-Polynesian | (ma-)iʀaq | red |
via Hawaiian ʻole
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hawaiian | ʻole | not, without, lacking; to deny; zero, nothing,... |