Hawaiʻi
/həˈwaɪ.i/noun
A state of the United States and an island group in the central Pacific Ocean.
Did you know?Hawaiʻi is widely connected with the Polynesian name Hawaiki, a legendary ancestral homeland, although scholars debate the precise original meaning of the name.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Polynesian
Proto-Polynesian
*Sawaiki
“A reconstructed ancestral or homeland name underlying related Polynesian forms; the exact meaning remains uncertain.”
Early Polynesian
Polynesian
Hawaiki
“A traditional ancestral homeland in Māori and several other Polynesian traditions.”
Traditional Hawaiian
Hawaiian
Hawaiʻi
“The name used in Hawaiian tradition for the island and, later, the island group.”
18th Century
European English
Owhyhee / Owhyee
“Early European spellings recorded during Captain Cook’s voyages.”
Modern English
English
Hawaii / Hawaiʻi
“The name of the U.S. state and Pacific archipelago; the ʻokina in Hawaiʻi represents a glottal stop in the Hawaiian spelling.”