lei
1. n.
• lei, garland, wreath; necklace of flowers, leaves, shells, ivory, feathers, or paper, given as a symbol of affection;
• beads; any ornament worn around the head or about the neck;
• to wear a lei;
• special song presenting a lei; crown;
• ring around a drake's neck;
• yoke, as for joining draft animals, especially oxen.
• fig., a beloved child, wife, husband, sweetheart, younger sibling or child, so called because a beloved child was carried on the shoulders, with its legs draped down on both sides of the bearer like a lei.
2. v. To put around the neck, as a wreath; to tie on, as one's beads. see the substantive. To put on an ensign or badge, as an officer in battle; ma ka la kaua, lei no ke alii i ka niho palaoa.
3. To rise up, as a cloud; to lift up. PASS. To be lifted or raised up, as a cloud. Nah. 10:11.
4. To put on one, as a crown; to crown. PASS. To wear, as a crown.
5. s. Any ornamental dress for the head or neck.
6. A string of beads; a necklace; a wreath of green leaves or flowers.
7. A crown for the head. see leialii. lei bipi, the bow of an ox yoke; the garland for crowning a god.
8. Any external ornamental work. Puk. 25:11. NOTE—The leis of Hawaiians were made of a great many materials, but the lauhala nut was the most valued on account of its odoriferous qualities. see leihala.
9. vi.
• to leap, spring forward;
• fling, toss,
• to rise, as a cloud. (Nah. 10.11)
Usually used with hoʻo-.
10. Hoo. To cast out; to cast off; to fling away from; to reject as useless; to throw or cast down upon the ground. Puk. 4:3.
11. To put on shore, as freight from a ship; aole lakou i hoolei mua i ka lakou ukana, they did not at first put their goods on shore.
12. To cast out, as out of the mouth; to belch, i. e., to talk profanely. Hal. 59:7.
13. To defile; to profane.
14. To lie down; to fall at full length; to stretch out; to cast down. |
| 52 | Aia ka ʻike iā Polihua a lei i ka mānewanewa. | One proves a visit to Polihua by wearing a lei of mānewanewa. |
| | [A person proves his visit to a place by bringing back something native to the area. Refers to Polihua, Lānaʻi.] |
| 332 | E lei kau, e lei hoʻoilo i ke aloha. | Love is worn like a wreath through the summers and the winters. |
| | [Love is everlasting.] |
| 333 | E lei nō au i ko aloha. | I will wear your love as a wreath. |
| | [I will cherish your love as a beautiful adornment.] |
| 352 | E manaʻo aʻe ana e lei i ka lehua o Mokaulele. | A wish to wear the lehua of Mokaulele in a lei. |
| | [A wish to win the maiden. Lei symbolizes sweetheart, and lehua, a pretty girl.] |
| 575 | He hiʻi alo ua milimili ʻia i ke alo, ua hāʻawe ʻia ma ke kua, ua lei ʻia ma ka ʻāʻī. | A beloved one, fondled in the arms, carried on the back, whose arms have gone ahout the neck as a lei. Said of a beloved child. |
| 740 | He lei poina ʻole ke keiki. | A lei never forgotten is the beloved child. |
| 1256 | Ipu lei Kohala na ka Moaʻe Kū. | Kohala is like a wreath container for the Moaʻe breeze. |
| | [Kohala is a windy place.] |
| 1438 | Ka lei hāʻule ʻole, he keiki. | A lei that is never cast aside is one’s child. |
| 1580 | Ka ua lei māʻohu o Waiānuenue. | The rain of Waiānuenue that is like a wreath of mist. |
| | [Wai-ānuenue (Rainbow-water) in Hilo, Hawaiʻi, is now known as Rainbow Falls. On sunny days a rainbow can be seen in the falls, and on rainy days the rising vapor is suggestive of a wreath of mist.] |
| 1759 | Ke kui lā i nā ʻāpiki lei o Makaiwa. | Stringing the ʻilima flowers into lei at Makaiwa. |
| | [ʻĀpiki was another name for ʻilima.] |
| 1778 | Ke one lei pūpū o Waimea. | The sand of Waimea, where shells for lei are found. |
| | [Waimea, Oʻahu, and Lumahaʻi, Kauaʻi, were the two places where the shells that were made into hat bands were found. Those on Oʻahu were predominantly white and those on Kauaʻi, brown. Not now seen.] |
| 1969 | Lei Hanakahi i ke ʻala me ke onaona o Panaʻewa. | Hanakahi is adorned with the fragrance and perfume of Panaʻewa. |
| | [The forest of Panaʻewa was famous for its maile vines and hala and lehua blossoms, well liked for making lei, so Hilo (Hanakahi) was said to be wreathed with fragrance.] |
| 1970 | Lei i ke ʻolo. | Wearers of gourds around the neck. |
| | [The kauā, who were a despised people. One who was marked for sacrifice was made to wear a small gourd suspended from the neck by a cord.] |
| 1972 | Lei Mahiki i ka ua kōkō ʻula. | Mahiki wears a wreath of rainbow-hued rain. |
| 2043 | Mai hāʻawi wale i ka lei o ka ʻāʻī o ʻalaʻala. | Do not give a lei too freely lest a scrofulous sore appear on the neek. |
| | [In olden times one never gave the lei he wore except to a person closely related. Should such a lei fall into the hands of a sorcerer who disliked him, a scrofulous sore would appear on his neck. If you wish to make a present of a lei, make a fresh one.] |
| 2184 | Mokihana onaona o Maunahina, lei hoʻohihi a ka malihini. | The fragrant mokihana berries of Maunahina, lei in which visitors delight. |
| | [Maunahina is a mountain on Kauaʻi, where the mokihana berries grow best.] |
| 2568 | Pahapaha lei o Polihale. | The pahapaha lei of Polihale. |
| | [At Polihale, Kauaʻi, grew pahapaha (sea lettuce). Visitors gathered and wore this pahapaha in lei because its green color could be revived by immersion in sea water after it had partially dried. Although pahapaha is common everywhere, only that which grows at Polihale revives once it is dry. It is famed in songs and chants of Kauaʻi.] |
| 2765 | Puʻupuʻu lei pali i ka ʻāʻī. | An imperfect lei, beautifed by wearing. |
| | [Even an imperfect lei looks beautiful when worn around the neck — as beautiful as flowers and greenery on the slope of a hill.] |