haole

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English

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Wikipedia

Etymology

Borrowed from Hawaiian haole.

Noun

haole (plural haole or haoles)

  1. (Hawaii, somewhat derogatory) A non-Hawaiian, usually specifically a white.
    • 1946, Armine Von Tempski, Bright Spurs, page 122:
      I had never known any haoles except Elmer and Marks and they were ice cold affairs. Everyone was always glad when their twice-a-month visit was pau. The very island seemed to sigh with relief []
    • 2009 January 18, Lois-ann Yamanaka, “This Man Is an Island”, in New York Times:
      And the white guy who ate Rice-A-Roni with butter was the haole who didn’t speak pidgin or eat real rice.
    • 2012, Julia Flynn Siler, Lost Kingdom, Grove Press, page 27:
      Commerce was flourishing in the kingdom and the rising merchant class was made up largely of haole rather than Hawaiians.

Derived terms

Anagrams

Hawaiian

Etymology

Unknown. The word pre-dates contact with Europeans.[1] A popular folk etymology analyzes the word as (breath) +‎ ʻole (not), referencing the fact that foreigners did not know the traditional honi greeting, which involves simultaneous inhalation. However, such a derivation is unlikely: haole lacks the long ā and glottal stop that would be expected if this were the origin of the word.

Pronunciation

Noun

haole

  1. foreigner
  2. Caucasian
  3. Englishman, Englishwoman, American

Verb

haole

  1. (stative) foreign
  2. (stative) Caucasian, white
  3. (stative) English, American
    ʻōlelo haole — English language

References

  1. ^ Judy Rohrer (2010 July 22) Haloles in Hawaii, University of Hawaii Press, →ISBN, page 59