Awa
/ˈɑː.wə/noun
A Polynesian name for kava, a drink made from the root of the kava plant.
Did you know?In Hawaiian, awa is the local form of a widespread Polynesian word whose initial consonant disappeared, while related forms such as Tongan kava preserve it.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Oceanic
POC
*kawaRi
“Reconstructed ancestral form associated with the kava plant or its preparation”
Proto-Polynesian
PPN
*kawa
“Kava plant or the drink made from it”
Before European contact
Hawaiian
ʻawa
“Kava; a ceremonial intoxicating beverage”
18th–19th Century
English
awa
“A Hawaiian name for kava”
Modern English
English
awa
“Kava, especially in reference to its Polynesian use”