ʻAwa
/ˈʔa.wə/noun
A Hawaiian term for kava, a ceremonial drink made from the root of the kava plant.
Did you know?In traditional Hawaiian practice, ʻawa could be offered in ceremonies to honor ʻaumākua—ancestral or deified spirits—making its preparation a ritual act rather than casual drinking.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Oceanic
POC
*kawa
“Reconstructed ancestral term for the kava plant or its intoxicating preparation.”
Proto-Polynesian
PPN
*kava
“Kava, the root and drink used throughout Polynesia in ceremonial contexts.”
Early Polynesian
Polynesian
*ʻava
“Kava beverage; the initial consonant was lost or transformed in some daughter languages.”
18th–19th Century
Hawaiian
ʻawa
“Kava; a drink associated with ceremony, healing, hospitality, and religious observance.”
Modern English
English
awa
“A loanword or variant name for Hawaiian ʻawa, referring to kava or the kava plant.”