Fanau
/faːˈnau/noun
In Samoan, fānau means to give birth, be born, or offspring and family collectively.
Did you know?The word belongs to a widespread Polynesian family of birth-and-kinship terms, including Māori *whānau* and Hawaiian *hānau*.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Polynesian
Proto-Polynesian
*fanau
“To give birth; offspring or descendants”
Early Polynesian
Polynesian
*fanau
“Birth, begetting, or a person born into a lineage”
Samoan
Samoan
fānau
“To give birth; to be born; offspring or family”
Modern Samoan
Samoan
fānau
“Birth, children, descendants, or the family group connected through birth”
Modern English usage
English
fanau
“A Polynesian cultural or linguistic term referring to birth, descendants, or family, usually preserving the Samoan spelling without the macron”