Akava'ine
/ˌakaˈvaʔi.neɪ/noun
A Cook Islands Māori term commonly referring to a transgender woman or transfeminine person.
Did you know?Akava'ine is a modern Cook Islands Māori formation, showing that Indigenous gender vocabulary can express identity through cultural role and manner rather than only biological categories.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Polynesian
Proto-Polynesian
*aka
“Way, manner, or mode of behaving”
Proto-Polynesian
Proto-Polynesian
*fafine
“Woman or female; the source of related Polynesian forms”
Old Cook Islands Māori
Cook Islands Māori
aka
“In the manner or likeness of”
Modern Cook Islands Māori
Cook Islands Māori
va'ine
“Woman; female, from an older Polynesian form related to *fafine”
Late 20th Century
Cook Islands Māori
akava'ine
“Literally, in the manner of a woman; a term for a transgender or transfeminine person”
Modern English
English
akava'ine
“A loanword used in English-language discussions of Cook Islands Māori gender and culture”