kumu
1. n.
• bottom, base, foundation, basis, basic; fundamental.
• title (as to land), hereditary,
• main stalk of a tree, trunk,
• handle,
• root (in arithmetic);
2. s. The bottom or foundation of a thing, as the bottom of a tree or plant, but not the roots; as, kumu laau, the bottom of a tree; kumu maia, banana stumps for planting; the stump of a tree; the stalk or stem of plants; the but end of a log, &c.; hence,
3. The beginning of a thing, as work or business.
4. The foundation, that is, the producing cause.
5. v. To begin or commence a work; to make an experiment.
6. Hoo. To found; to lay a foundation.
7. n.
• teacher, tutor,
• manual, primer,
• model, pattern.
8. An example; a pattern; a copy; kumu hoohalike, a pattern; a model. Puk. 25:9. A socket. Puk. 26:19.
9. A teacher; an instructor from the highest to the lowest class, including the ministers of religion.
10. n.
• beginning, source, origin;
• starting point of plaiting.
11. n. end of a sporting field or court. also poʻo.
12. n. reason, cause, goal, justification, motive, grounds, purpose, object, why.
13. n. cause.
14. n.
• an article bought, sold or exchanged;
• price.
15. The price of a thing, or the property to be given for a valuable.
16. The property to be paid for hire. NOTE.—Formerly all trade among Hawaiians consisted of barter, and the price of a thing was not a cash price, but one article became the kumu of another if it could be exchanged for it.
17. n. herd, flock.
18. A shoal of fish; a flock; a herd; kumu puaa, a herd of swine; kumu hipa, a flock of sheep.
19. n. tenon (RSV), socket (KJV).
20. placename. site of a spring near Kūkūau, Hilo, Hawaiʻi. Children enjoyed diving and swimming here, but it is now filled in. lit.: source.
21. A species of fish of a red color, forbidden to women to eat by the ancient kapus.
22. A fountain of water.
23. (11. A cough; a hard breathing; a pestilence; he mai ahulau, he mai kumu, he aheahe; this is a vicious pronunciation for kunu. see kunu.) Kumu ole, without cause. Ioan. 15:25. Kumu mua, elements of things. 2 Pet. 3:10.
24. Civil power; legal authority. NOTE. The word mana, out of its ancient and legitimate meaning, has lately been used for power or legal authority. |
| 64 | ʻAi a manō, ʻaʻohe nānā i kumu pali. | When the shark eats, he never troubles to look toward the foot of the cliff. |
| | [Said of a person who eats voraciously with no thought of those who provided the food, shows no appreciation for what has been done for him, nor has a care for the morrow.] |
| 150 | ʻAʻohe i maneʻo iho ke kumu pepeiao i kau hīmeni. | Even the base of the ear isn’t tickled by your song. |
| | [A rude remark to one whose song or story is not appealing.] |
| 291 | E hoʻōki i ka hoʻina wale o hōʻino ʻia mai ke kumu. | One should never go home without [some knowledge] lest his teacher be criticized. |
| 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.] |
| 713 | He kumu lehua muimuia i ka manu. | A lehua tree covered with birds. |
| | [An attractive person. A lehua tree in bloom attracts birds as an attractive person draws the attention of others.] |
| 892 | He pili kauawe paha ke kumu i moʻa ʻole ai ke kalo. | Perhaps the reason for the partly cooked condition of the taro is because it is the one closest to the leaves that cover over the imu. |
| | [Said of an imperfect or defective task, or of a person whose ideas are “half-baked.”] |
| 928 | He puhi kumu one, he iʻa ʻino. | An eel of the sand bank is a dangerous creature. |
| | [Said of eels that can travel on the sand and rocks. Tales are told of eels climbing pandanus trees and dropping on persons resting or sleeping under them. Also said of a dangerous person.] |
| 981 | Hewa kumu waiho i keiki. | Faults of the source are left to the children. |
| | [Children suffer the consequences of the wrongs committed by their parents.] |
| 986 | Hihi kaunaʻoa, hihi i Mānā; aloha wale ia lāʻau kumu ʻole. | The dodder vine creeps, creeps at Mānā; beloved indeed is the trunkless plant. |
| | [This saying comes from two lines of a chant. Said of a person with no family background, or to a parasitical person. The kaunaʻoa (dodder vine) is a parasite.] |
| 1177 | I kahi ʻē nō ke kumu mokihana, paoa ʻē nō ʻoneʻi i ke ʻala. | Although the mokihana tree is at a distance, its fragrance reaches here. |
| | [Although a person is far away, the tales of his good deeds come to us.] |
| 1238 | ʻInā e lepo ke kumu wai, e hōʻea ana ka lepo i kai. | If the source of water is dirty, the muddy water will travel on. |
| | [Where there is evil at the source, the evil travels on.] |
| 1261 | I ulu nō ka lālā i ke kumu. | The branches grow because of the trunk. |
| | [Without our ancestors we would not be here.] |
| 1419 | Ka lāʻau kumu ʻole o Kahilikolo. | The trunkless tree of Kahilikolo. |
| | [Said of one who lacks a family background. Famed in many Kauaʻi chants and legends is the trunkless koa tree of Kahilikolo. The tree does not grow upright but spreads over the ground. To say that one has found the trunk of Kahilikolo is to say that he has found nothing.] |
| 1529 | Ka pali kāohi kumu aliʻi o ʻĪao. | The cliff of ʻĪao that embraces the chiefly sources. |
| | [ʻĪao, Maui, was the burial place of many chiefs of high rank who are the ancestors of living chiefs.] |
| 1765 | Ke lepo ke kumu wai, e huaʻi ana ka lepo i kai. | When the source of the water is dirty, muddy water will he seen in the lowland. |
| | [When the thoughts are dirty, dirty words are heard.] |
| 2071 | Mai ke kumu a ka welau. | From trunk to leaf buds. |
| | [The whole thing.] |
| 2190 | Molale loa nō kumu pali o Kalalau. | Clearly seen is the base of Kalalau cliff. |
| | [It is obvious that one is way off the subject. A play on lalau (to wander, err).] |
| 1655 | Ka wai kumu ʻole. | The water without source. |
| | [Kawaihāpai, Oʻahu. A drought once came there in ancient times and drove out everyone except two aged priests. Instead of going with the others, they remained to plead with their gods for relief. One day they saw a cloud approaching from the ocean. It passed over their house to the cliff behind. They heard a splash and when they ran to look, they found water. Because it was brought there by a cloud in answer to their prayers, the place was renamed Ka-wai-hāpai (The-carried-water) and the water supply was named Ka-wai-kumu-ʻole (Water-without-a-source).] |
| 2464 | ʻO ke kumu, o ka māna, hoʻopuka ʻia. | The teacher, the pupil — let it come forth. |
| | [A challenge from a pupil to the teacher who trained him in warfare or sports — “Now let the teacher and pupil vie against each other.”] |
| 2576 | Pā i ke kumu. | Struck the base. |
| | [There is something that prevents progress. A kumu is a large stone set in the way to stop the rolling of a maika stone.] |
| 2637 | Piʻi ka ʻula a hanini i kumu pepeiao. | The red rises till it spills over the base of the ears. |
| | [Said of one who blushes violently or of one who is flushed with anger.] |
| 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.] |