Wehewehe Wikiwiki Hawaiian language dictionaries

1. n., Oʻahu and Maui name for a freshwater ʻoʻopu fish (Eleotris sandwicensis 🌐) called ʻōkuhe elsewhere.

• Related:
  • See ʻōkuhe for other names.
  • The name ʻoau is said to be so called because of a tale: a fisherman caught a lot of these fish, but they disappeared; the fisherman called for them and a voice answered “ʻo au, ʻo au” (it's me, it's me) and the fish turned into lizards and scampered off.
  • Also: ʻowau.

2. nvi., A cat, so called because of its cry: to mew.

• Examples:
  • Mikimiki mai ka ʻowau lā, no ka hemahema o ia ala (song of the 1880s), the cat is on the alert, when someone is careless.
• Related:
  • Also: ʻowau.

3. n., A variety of taro.

• Related:
  • Also: ʻowau.

4. n., A moss.

• Related:
  • Also: ʻowau.

n., A species of ʻoʻopu, a fish. Also called ʻōkuhekuhe.

1st person singular pronoun [ʻO and au, I.] I. (The ʻo is emphatic, and sounded quickly with the following a, it becomes w, as wau; when the ʻo is a little more heard, it becomes ʻowau; hence the several forms.)

1. Au, I, simple form.

2. ʻOau, I, with ʻo emphatic.

3. Wau, I, the ʻo and a sounded quickly together.

4. ʻOwau, I, the third form again emphatic.

v., To mew, as a cat. See ʻowau.

Hawaiian sleeper, Eleotris sandwicensis, a fresh and brackish water fish with a growth to nine inches. Same as ʻoʻopu, hiʻu kole.

A variety of ʻōʻōpu (Eleotris fusca) Cf. ʻoau, ʻowau. Also called ʻōkuhe, ʻapohā. See ʻakupa.

A variety of ʻōʻōpu (Eleotris fusca) Cf. ʻoau, ʻowau. Also called ʻōkuhe, ʻapohā. See ʻakupa.

Species of moss.