Kaʻū
1. vt. • to place, put, hang, suspend, affix, gird on;
• to set, settle, perch, alight, rest, pose;
• to enact, impose, or pass, as a law;
• to levy, as a tax;
• to ride on or mount, as on a horse or in a car;
• to board, mount, get in or on;
• to rise up, appear, as the moon;
• to place in sacrifice, as a pig;
• to come to rest, as the setting sun;
• to arrive, come to pass;
• to hang up, as a telephone receiver.
2. v. In an active sense, to hang; to hang up; to suspend, as an article to be out of the way; to crucify or hang, as a criminal.Kin. 40:22. 3. To hang, tie or gird on, as a sword; kau i ka pahi kaua. Puk. 32:27. 4. To put upon or place a thing in some designated place; to put inan elevated situation; to mount a horse; to go on board a ship or canoe. 5. To overhang, as the heavens over the earth. 6. To fall upon; to embrace affectionately, with ai. Kin. 46:29. 7. To put upon one, as a heavy burden. Nah.11:11. 8. To set or fix the boundries of a land or country. 9. To put down, as words on paper. seekakau. To write; to dot; hence, 10. To give publicity to a thing; to promulgate, as a law; i kau aku oukou i kanawai maikai, that you may establish good laws. 11. To set before one, as food. 12. To tempt, as in taking birds with a snare. 13. In a neuter sense, to light down upon, as a bird; as the spirit or divine influence upon one. Nah.11:26. 14. To come down upon one unexpectedly. 15. Kau pono kona maka, to set or direct one's face or desire. 16. To rest upon; to stretch out or over. 17. To come upon one, as a suffering or calamity. 18. To rehearse in the hearing of another that he may learn. 19. A kau ka hamere ma kekahi lima, he took the hammer in one hand. Lunk. 4:21. To lay or place the hand upon one for evil. 20. Hoo. To set against; to resist. Lunk. 7:22. 21. To appoint against; to come upon. Ier. 15:3. 22. To bring upon; to cause to fall upon. 23. To rest; to place. Kanl. 7:23. 24. Kau aku i kau hale, to go about from house to house; to go about idly. see definition 11. 25. s. A place; kau kanaka laha ole, place where men go not; kau kanaka, a place where men live; kau kanaka ole ai, where there are no people. 26. adj. A setting of the sun; a resting; mai ka la hiki a ka la kau, from the rising to the setting sun. D. Malo 5:11. 27. A sitting place, as a roost for fowls; kau ka moa i ke kau, the fowl sits upon its roost. 28. n. period of time, lifetime; any season, especially summer; session of a legislature; term, semester; time of late night before dawn. 29. n. season. 30. s. Season. Kin. 1:14. 31. The summer or warm season, in distinction from hooilo, the winter months. NOTE.—The Hawaiians had but two seasons in a year, viz.: the kau summer, and hooilo winter; hence, 32. A period of time when one lives. Eset. 1:1. A specified time. Lunk. 10:8. A i ke kau i ke alii, ia Kamehameha, in the life time of Kamehameha. 33. A time for a particular purpose. 34. Time of indefinite length; kau ai, a fruitful season; kau wi, a time of famine. 35. nvt. a sacred chant, as Hiʻiaka's chants of affectionate greeting to persons, hills, and landmarks; a chant of sacrifice to a deity; to chant thus. 36. n. • wooden handle, as on stone chisels;
• perch;
• pole raised longitudinally over a canoe in stormy weather, on which mats were placed for protection. 37. nvi. a method of feeding children or high-born persons as a special honor; the recipient held back his head and opened his mouth; the morsel of poi was dropped into his mouth; much enjoyed by children as a game. 38. n. center tapa under which the stone was hidden in the game of pūhenehene. 39. Midnight; so called from the game called puhenehene, in which were five puu or places to conceal the noa: the first called kihi, second pili, third kau, fourth pilipuka (i.e., applied to night, 3 o'clock, A. M.), fifth kihipuka. Dr. Baldwin. 40. n. middle finger of the hand. 41. n. reason, cause. 42. to write, sign; to print on tapa...
43. name of a star in the northern sky that served as guide to mariners. 44. the Milky Way. 45. n. depression between collarbone and neck. 46. part. indicating plural, much less used than nā and mau except in the compounds kauhale, kaukolu, kauwahi. 47. part. expressing superlative, preceded by hoʻi or maihoʻi. 48. vt. to discuss. 49. placename. place between Waiʻōhinu and South Point, Kaʻū, Hawaiʻi. lit.: to place. 50. n. name of a district on Hawaiʻi. see epithets, kua₁, Kuehu Lepo, mākaha₁, wehi₃, and chant, kiʻekiʻe. 51. placename. district, desert, elementary and high school, trail, and peak (2,082 feet high), Hawaiʻi. Poetic: Kaʻū kuamakani and UL 65. (For sayings, see Appendix 8.1.) see Kaʻū-loa. Kaʻū is an ancient name, with cognates in Samoa (Taʻū) and Mortlock Islands (Takuu): see Appendix 9. Small point and bay, Kīpahulu qd., Maui. 52. pers. pro. An oblique case of oe, second person. Of thee; of thine. Gram. § 132, 133. Also a prefix pronoun, thy; thine. Gram. § 149, 150. 53. s. A canoe; kaukahi, a single canoe; kaulua, a double-canoe; 54. s. Name of puukapu in the game of noa.
(22)
43
Aia i Kaʻū i Kaʻaluʻalu.
There in Kaʻū is a place named Kaʻalu alu.
[When seen from the ocean, Kaʻaluʻalu appears creased. This saying is applied jokingly to the wrinkles of a person, or to wrinkled clothing.]
260
E ala e Kaʻū, kahiko o Mākaha; e ala e Puna, Puna Kumākaha; e ala e Hilo naʻau kele!
Arise, O Kaʻū of ancient descent; arise, O Puna of the Kumākaha group; arise, O Hilo of the water-soaked foundation!
[A rallying call. These names are found in Kaʻū and Puna chants of the chiefs. The Mākaha and Ku-mākaha (Like-the-Mākaha) were originally one. Some moved to Puna and took the name Kumākaha.]
773
He lono ma mua, he kulina ma hope; kulikuli wale ka makani o Kaʻū!
Report went first, heedlessness followed; what a din the wind of Kaʻū raised!
[From a chant for Kaumualiʻi of Kauaʻi.]
994
Hilinaʻi Puna, kālele iā Kaʻū.
Puna leans and reclines on Kaʻū.
[Said of one who leans or depends on another. The ancestors of these two districts were originally of one extended family. The time came when those of each district decided to have a name of their own, without breaking the link entirely. Those in Kaʻū referred to themselves as the Mākaha and those in Puna as the Kumākaha. These names are mentioned in the chants of the chiefs of Kaʻū.]
995
Hilinaʻi Puna kālele ia Kaʻū, hilinaʻi Kaʻū kālele ia Puna.
Puna trusts and leans on Kaʻū, Kaʻū trusts and leans on Puna.
[The people of Puna and Kaʻū are related.]
1257
I puni iā ʻoe o Kaʻū a i ʻike ʻole ʻoe iā Kaʻūloa, ʻaʻohe nō ʻoe i ʻike iā Kaʻū.
If you have been around Kaʻū and have not seen Kaʻūloa, you have not seen the whole of the district. Kaʻūloa and Waiōhinu were two stones, wife and husband, that stood in a kukui grove on the upper side of the road between Na’alehu and Waiōhinu. With the passing of time, these stones gradually sank until they vanished completely into the earth. After Kaʻūloa was no longer seen, Palahemo was substituted as the chief point of interest.
1557
Kaʻū ʻai kōʻalaʻala.
Kaʻū of the hasty repast.
[Some of the natives of Kaʻū had a reputation for not being very hospitable. Hasty eating on the part of the host did not encourage guests to linger.]
1559
Kaʻū, ʻāina kua makani.
Kaʻū, a land over whose back the wind hlows.
[Kaʻū is a windy land.]
1605
Kaʻū, hiehie i ka makani.
Kaʻū, regal in the gales.
[An expression of admiration for the district of Kaʻū, Hawaiʻi, or for a stately or outstanding person of that district.]
1610
Kaʻū, i Palahemo.
In Kaʻū, at Palahemo.
[Palahemo is a pool near Kalae in Kaʻū. Salt water is found under the fresh water, and any disturbance, like the dropping of a heavy stone, reverses the water, so that the salt water rises to the top. This place is famed in songs and chants.]
1620
Kaʻū lepo ʻulaʻula.
Kaʻū of the red earth.
[Said of the natives of old Kaʻū, who were one vast family. Because of pride in their own people and homeland, Kaʻū people intermarried until they were of one blood and as one with their homeland. The kauwā were the only exceptions to this rule — they were despised and considered a people apart.]
1628
Kaʻū, mai ʻOkiʻokiaho a Mawae.
Kaʻū, from ʻOkiʻokiaho to Mawae.
[The district of Kaʻū, from ʻOkiʻokiaho at the boundary of Puna, to Mawae at the boundary of Kona.]
1629
Kaʻū mākaha.
Kaʻū of the fierce fghters.
[The district of Kaʻū, Hawaiʻi, was known for its fierce and independent warriors. Kohāikalani, Koihala, and Halaʻea, selfish and oppressive chiefs, were each destroyed by rebellious subjects.]
1630
Kaʻū malo ʻeka, kua wehi.
Kaʻū of the dirty loincloth and black back.
[The farmers there squatted on their haunches and worked the soil with short digging sticks. The sun darkened the backs of the workers.]
1632
Kaʻū nui kua makani.
Great Kaʻū of the windblown back.
[The wind always blows in Kaʻū.]
1633
Kaʻū nui maka lepo.
Great Kaʻū of dirty faces.
[An expression of ridicule. Kaʻū, Hawaiʻi, is a dry, wind-swept district where clouds of dust rise into the air.]
1695
Ke hele maila ko Kaʻū; he iho maila ko Palahemo; he hōkake aʻela i Manukā; haele loa akula i Kaleinapueo.
There come those of Kaʻū; those of Palahemo descend; those of Manukā push this way and that; and away they all go to Kaleinapueo.
[Said when one tries to find out something about another and meets with failure at every turn. A play on place names: ʻū (a grunt of contempt) in Kaʻū; hemo (to get away) in Palahemo; kā (to run along like a vine) in Manukā; and leinapueo (owl’s leaping place) in Kaleinapueo.]
1747
Ke kini mahiʻai o Kaʻū.
The farming multitude of Kaū.
[A derogatory remark by Keāulumoku, author of the chant “Haui ka lani,” that the people of Kaʻ ū, who were mostly farmers, were insignificant people.]
1802
Kinikini kauhale liʻiliʻi o lalo lilo e. “He Ahu au no Kaʻū”; “He ʻIo au no Hilo.”
A multitude are the small houses way down helow. [The inhabitants claim,] “I am an Ahu of Kaʻu’ and “I am an ʻIo of Hilo.”
[This saying is used in anger or to make fun of those who are low in rank yet claim relationship with the high chiefs. A play on ahu (a heap of nothing), ʻū (a grunt of contempt) in Kaʻū, and ʻio, the mighty hawk that sits on any branch it chooses.]
2068
Mai ka uka a ke kai, mai kahi pae a kahi pae o Kaʻū, he hoʻokahi nō ʻohana.
From the upland to the sea, from end to end of Kaʻū, there is only one family.