Wehewehe Wikiwiki Hawaiian language dictionaries

1. n., A large tree (Calophyllum inophyllum 🌐), at home on shores of the Indian and western Pacific Oceans, with shiny, oblong leaves to 20 cm long, white flowers much like orange blossoms, and globose green fruits about 2.5 cm in diameter. The wood is hard and was formerly made into calabashes.

• Related:
  • Also: kamanu, tamanu.
• References:
  • Neal 585–6.
  • PPN tamanu .

2. vt., Smooth, shiny, polished, as of kamani wood.

• Examples:
  • Kamani ke poʻo, baldheaded.
• hoʻokamani Caus/sim.; To act the hypocrite (Mat. 15.7); to deal falsely (Oihk. 19.11), to disguise oneself (1 Nal. 14.2), to pretend, be insecure; hypocrite; sham.
  • Hoʻokamani ʻole, honestly, unfeigned.

Perfume plant (Calophyllum inophyllum). A hardwood tree supplying a sap for perfume.

Tall, handsome tree (Calophyllum inophyllum), probably brought in by early Polynesians. (NEAL 585.) See Plants: Uses.

Tall, handsome tree (Calophyllum inophyllum), from the shores of the Indian and western Pacific oceans. Grows some-what crookedly to 60 feet. The flowers suggest orange blossoms. Its seed, the “Punnai” nut, a commercial name, yields an oil used medicinally and for lights. It is a hardwood used for calabashes, special furniture, and wood carvings. Considered a sacred tree in many places. (NEAL 585.)

Tree producing beautiful leaves and wood. Hoʻokamani, hypocrite. (Mat. 15:7.) The inside wood of the kamani is prized for wood turning and carving.

To deal falsely. (Oihk. 19:11.) To dissemble; to profess to be what one is not; a hypocrite.