Lānaʻi
/ləˈnaɪ.i/noun
A Hawaiian island and, in English, a roofed porch or veranda, especially in Hawaiian or regional usage.
Did you know?The English noun lanai comes directly from Hawaiian lānaʻi, while Lānaʻi is also the name of Hawaii’s sixth-largest island; the island name’s deeper origin remains debated rather than securely translated.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Polynesian period
Proto-Polynesian
*lanaqi
“A reconstructed ancestral form associated with the Hawaiian word, though the precise historical pathway and meaning are uncertain.”
Pre-contact Hawaii
Hawaiian
lānaʻi
“A roofed, open-sided space adjoining a house; a porch or veranda.”
Pre-contact Hawaii
Hawaiian
Lānaʻi
“The proper name of the Hawaiian island now written with an ʻokina, a glottal-stop mark.”
19th Century
English
lanai
“A porch or veranda, borrowed from Hawaiian.”
Modern English
English
lanai / Lānaʻi
“A veranda or porch; or the Hawaiian island of Lānaʻi.”