Hawaiian Kingdom

[huh-wahy-uhn king-duhm, -wah-yuhn]

noun

1. a former sovereign nation of the North Pacific formed in 1795, which by 1810 comprised the entire Hawaiian archipelago: overthrown in 1893 by an illegal coup d’état led in large part by Americans with business interests in Hawaii.

Word History and Origins

Origin of Hawaiian Kingdom¹

First recorded in 1840–45

Example Sentences

Little remains to remind a visitor that this was the capital of the Hawaiian Kingdom in the early 19th century under King Kamehameha II. But the flames didn’t claim everything.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

She had been put there by American businessmen backed by the United States military, which had overthrown the Hawaiian Kingdom, an internationally recognized sovereign nation.

Read more on Salon

He pointed to the 1893 overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom that led to an “oligarchy” of businessmen, sugar barons and large landowners lasting decades.

Read more on New York Times

The Aug. 8 wildfire, the deadliest in U.S. history, leveled Lahaina, the one-time capital of the former Hawaiian Kingdom, and killed at least 100 people.

Read more on Seattle Times

Located on the northwest coast of Maui, it had once been the capital of the Hawaiian Kingdom before the island chain became a US State in 1959.

Read more on BBC