kukui
1. n.
• candlenut tree (Aleurites moluccana), a large tree in the spurge family bearing nuts containing while, oily kernels which were formerly used for lights;
• hence the tree is a symbol of enlightenment.
• the nuts are still cooked for a relish (ʻinamona).
• the soft wood was used for canoes,
• gum from the bark was used for painting tapa;
• black dye was obtained from nut coats and from roots,
• (nuts were chewed and spat into the sea by men fishing with nets for parrot fish (kākā₄ uhu₁) in order to calm the sea (FS 38–9): see ex. pili₁).
• polished nuts are strung in leis;
• the silvery leaves and small white flowers are strung in leis as representative of Molokaʻi, as designated in 1923 by the Territorial legislature.
• the kukui was named the official emblem for the State of Hawaii in 1959 because of its many uses and its symbolic value.
• kukui is one of the plant forms of Kamapuaʻa that comes to help him (FS 215).
• called kuikui on Niʻihau.
2. s. The name of a tree and nut; the nut was formerly used to burn for lights; the tree produces also the gum pilali; the body of the tree was sometimes made into canoes; the bark of the root was used in coloring canoes black.
3. lamp, light, torch. fig., guide, leader.
4. A lamp. 1 Sam. 3:3. A candle; a light or torch; a lighter. Kin. 1:15.
5. star name (no data).
6. placename. village, Hilo qd.; beach, Kohala qd.; point, Honomū qd.; stream, Waipiʻo qd.; ancient surfing areas, Nāpoʻopoʻo and Hōnaunau qds. Finney-Houston 26, Hawaiʻi. Peak (3,005 feet high) and trail, Waimea Canyon, Kauaʻi. Point, north Lānaʻi. Peak (5,788 feet high), Lahaina qd., and bay, Kīpahulu qd., Maui. Heiau, Kamalō qd., south Molokaʻi; and elevation, Mauna Loa, Airport qd., Molokaʻi, where the men of Pālāʻau to the north were turned into kauila trees. In this story ʻUmi-a-Maka, a youth skilled in mokomoko (hand-to-hand fighting) who lived above ʻĪloli hill at Kawailoa, was challenged by an unknown from Kawahuna. On the advice of his kahuna, ʻUmi-a-Maka brought a small black pig to Kukui Hill. Its squealing drove away his opponents' gods and turned the people into kauila trees (Ka Nupepa Kuokoa, September 14, 1922). Area on the Makapuʻu side of Pāhonu, Waimānalo, Oʻahu (FS 266). Downtown Honolulu lane and street named in 1856; the first street lamp (kukui) was at Fort and Kukui streets TM. The State tree is the kukui; its oily nuts were used for lights. lit.: candlenut lamp, light of any kind.
7. see pakui. To splice or piece out so as to lengthen, as a stick or rope.
8. v. see kui, to publish. To publish; to spread, as a report; to make famous. |
| 5 | Aʻeaʻe mōhala i luna o ke kukui. | Whiteness unfolds on the kukui trees. |
| | [Used in reference to a person who grays, comparing him to a blooming kukui tree laden with white flowers.] |
| 12 | Ahu a lālā kukui. | The kukui branches lay about in heaps. |
| | [Strewn about in every direction. An expression that refers to an untidy place or the strewing of dead bodies after a battle.] |
| 539 | He aliʻi no ka malu kukui. | A chief of the kukui shade. |
| | [A chief who has something shady in his genealogy that he doesn’t care to discuss.] |
| 668 | He kanaka no ka malu kukui. | A person from the kukui tree shade. |
| | [A person of uncertain parentage; one who has in his veins the blood of chiefs as well as commoners. Similar to Kūkae pōpolo (Excreta of the pōpolo berries [that have been eaten]).] |
| 695 | He kiu ka pua kukui na ka makani. | The kukui blossoms are a sign of wind. |
| | [When the kukui trees shed their blossoms, a strong wind is blowing.] |
| 711 | He kumu kukui i heʻe ka pīlali. | A kukui tree oozing with gum. |
| | [A prosperous person.] |
| 712 | He kumu kukui palahuli wale i ka makani Kona. | A kukui tree, easily toppled over by the Kona wind. |
| | [Said of one who is easily vanquished by a stronger opponent.] |
| 1474 | Ka malu hālau loa o ke kukui. | The long shelter of the kukui trees. |
| | [A kukui grove shelters like a house.] |
| 1624 | Ka ulu kukui o Lanikāula. | The kukui grove of Lanikāula. |
| | [Lanikāula was the kāula (prophet) of Molokaʻi. His fame was so great that it incurred the jealousy of Kawelo, prophet of Lānaʻi, who sought every means of destroying Lanikāula. His efforts were rewarded when he discovered where Lanikāula went to relieve himself. Kawelo made a hole in a sweet potato and filled it with his rival’s excrement. This he took back to Lānaʻi and with it prayed his victim to death. When Lanikāula saw that his end was near, he asked his sons to suggest a burial place. He found each suggestion unsatisfactory except that of his youngest son. So Lanikāula was buried in a kukui grove near his home. In the grave were placed his personal belongings, which, by the power invested in them by a kahuna, would bring harm to anyone who disturbed the remains. So Lanikāula rests in his kukui grove, famed in songs of Molokaʻi.] |
| 1631 | Kaunaʻoa pālaha kukui o Kamehaʻikana. | The kaunaʻoa that spreads and fattens the kukui foliage of Kamehaʻikana. |
| | [Said of kaunaoa niālolo, which grows so thickly in some places that it covers the leaves of kukui and other trees.] |
| 1904 | Kukui ʻā mau i ka awakea. | Torch that continues to burn in daylight. |
| | [A symbol of the family of Iwikauikaua. After his daughter was put to death by one of his wives, this chief made a tour of the island of Hawaiʻi with torches burning day and night. This became a symbol of his descendants, who included Kalākaua and Liliʻuokalani.] |
| 2039 | Māhanalua nā kukui. | The lights are doubled. |
| | [Said of a drunk person who sees double.] |
| 2657 | Pio ke kukui, pōʻele ka hale. | When the light goes out, the house is dark. |
| | [Said of one whose sight is gone — he dwells in darkness. Also said when life goes and the darkness of death possesses.] |
| 2662 | Pipili no ka pīlali i ke kumu kukui. | The pīlali gum sticks to the kukui tree. |
| | [Said of one who remains close to a loved one all the time, as a child may cling to the grandparent he loves.] |
| 2755 | Pupuhi kukui — malino ke kai. | Spewed kukui nuts — calm sea. |
| | [To calm the water, fishermen chewed kukui nuts and spewed them. It has the same meaning as, “Pour oil on troubled waters.”] |
| 2756 | Pupuhi kukui o Papalaua, he ʻino. | Light the candle of Papalaua, the weather is had. |
| | [Said of Papalaua, Molokaʻi, where the sun shines for only part of the day. When the weather was bad the valley became dark before the day was gone, and candles had to be lighted. Sometimes said facetiously when a day is gloomy and a light is required to see.] |
| 2817 | Ua lilo i ke koli kukui a maluhi. | Gone lamp-trimming until tired. |
| | [Said of one who has gone on an all-night spree. When the top kukui nut on a candle was bumed out, it was knocked off and the next nut on the stick allowed to burn.] |
| 2850 | Ua pio ke kukui. | The light is extinguished. |
| | [Said of a person who has fallen asleep and is no longer aware of anything.] |
| 2868 | Ulu kukui o kaukaweli. | Kukui grove of terror. |
| | [Sometimes mentioned in connection with Lahainaluna School, where this grove was found. It was so called because of the short temper of the Reverend John Pogue, an instructor, and because of the skeletons stored in a nearby building for the study of anatomy. It was in this grove that hō’ike, exhibitions of what students had learned, were held.] |
| 2869 | Ulu kukui o Lilikoʻi. | Kukui grove of Lilikoʻi. |
| | [This kukui grove, in Makawao, Maui, was much visited by travelers, for it was a favorite spot of the chiefs. The nuts gathered from the trees produced a fragrant, tasty relish.] |