Where does “pukuhiko” come from?
pukuhiko (Maori) comes from Maori puku, from Proto-Polynesian *puku, from Proto-Oceanic *buku, from Proto-Austronesian *bukuh.
Ancestry of “pukuhiko”, step by step
pukuhiko traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via Maori puku
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Maori | puku | stomach, belly |
| 2 | Proto-Polynesian | *puku | — |
| 3 | Proto-Oceanic | *buku | — |
| 4 | Proto-Austronesian | *bukuh | — |
via Maori hiko
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Maori | hiko | electric; lightning; electricity |
| 2 | English | shh | Requesting silence; An utterance of "shh"; To... |
| 3 | English | hush | To become quiet; To make quiet; To appease; to... |
| 4 | Middle English | huschen | to hush |