iiwi

[ ee-ee-wee ]

/ iˈi wi /

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a Hawaiian honeycreeper, Vestiaria coccinea, having a red body, black wings, and a deeply curved pinkish-red bill.

QUIZZES

Were you ready for a quiz on this topic? Well, here it is! See how well you can differentiate between the uses of "was" vs. "were" in this quiz.

Question 1 of 7

“Was” is used for the indicative past tense of “to be,” and “were” is only used for the subjunctive past tense.

1885–90; <Hawaiian ʿiʿiwi, derivative of ʿiwi reddish; compare earlier eeeeve (1779)

The meles tell of their love in the Pulou ravine, where they caught the bright iiwi birds, and the scarlet apapani.
Hawaiian Folk Tales|Various
Sometimes the iiwi (a small red bird) fluttered in the air and uttered its shrill, happy song, and Maui saw and heard.
Legends of Ma-ui--a demi god of Polynesia, and of his mother Hina|W. D. Westervelt