kanaka
noun
a Native Hawaiian.
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kanaka
American
[kuh-nak-uh, -nah-kuh, kan-uh-kuh]
/ kəˈnæk ə, -ˈnɑ kə, ˈkæn ə kə /
noun
(sometimes initial capital letter)
-
a Native Hawaiian.
-
a South Sea islander.
Kanaka
British
/ kəˈnækə, ˈkænəkə /
noun
-
(esp in Hawaii) a native Hawaiian
-
(often not capital) any native of the South Pacific islands, esp (formerly) one abducted to work in Australia
Etymology
Origin of kanaka
From Hawaiian: “person”
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The kanaka of Hawaii, the Native Hawaiians who inhabit the islands, value ’ohana, which extends beyond the familial ties of blood.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 26, 2023
In the late 1960s and into the ’70s, Native Hawaiians, the kanaka maoli, led a revival of interest in Hawaii’s history, language, music, dance and other traditional arts.
From Washington Post ● Sep. 16, 2022
There has been no wholesale return of Hawaiian crown lands to the kanaka maoli, only promises and fitful attempts at restitution amid generations of wistful nostalgia and frustration.
From Washington Post ● Sep. 16, 2022
Honestly, we kanaka don’t mind the moa so much.
From Washington Post ● Jun. 8, 2022
Thus he said te tanata instead of ke kanaka, the man.
From Unwritten Literature of Hawaii The Sacred Songs of the Hula by Emerson, Nathaniel Bright
Kanaka elders have insisted that no more telescopes be built on Mauna Kea, which Native Hawaiians consider to be ancestral and sacred.
From Salon ● Aug. 21, 2024
Patrick Michell, chief of the Kanaka Bar First Nation, first began noticing worrying changes in the forest near his reserve in British Columbia, Canada, more than three decades ago.
From BBC ● Oct. 30, 2021
At least one large fire, dubbed the Kanaka fire, grew to more than 10 acres before crews were able to stop its progress.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 10, 2021
A wooden footbridge crosses Kanaka Creek, where the trail leads to picnic areas with peaceful water views.
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 13, 2018
Kanaka women in the garden below selling bananas and pea-nuts by the glare of flaring torches on a sultry tropical moonlight night.
From A Boy's Voyage Round the World by Smiles, Samuel
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
