kanaka
Hello, you have come here looking for the meaning of the word kanaka. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word kanaka, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say kanaka in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word kanaka you have here. The definition of the word kanaka will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition ofkanaka, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
English
Alternative forms
Etymology
1840. From Hawaiian kanaka (“person”), ultimately from Proto-Polynesian *taŋata.
Noun
kanaka (plural kanakas or kanaka)
- A person of Hawaiian descent.
- 2004 October 29, Peter Wong, “Interracial-marriage ban used in Measure 36 comparisons”, in Statesman Journal, volume 152, number 214, Salem, OR, page 2A:
- It was considered one of the nation’s strictest bans because of the reference to Kanakas – native Hawaiians – and because Nevada was the only other state to add Chinese.
- 2010, Mike Farris, Kanaka Blues, Savant Books and Publications, page 21:
- "Who was the call from?"
"I don't know. Sound like a kanaka though.” When Erin frowned, he added, “A Hawaiian, like me.”
- (historical) A South Pacific Islander, especially a labourer in Australia or Canada.
- 1912, Arthur Berriedale Keith, Responsible Government in the Dominions, Volume II, page 1098:
- There remains one case to be considered, that of the deportation of the Kanakas who were introduced into Queensland for the purpose of work on the sugar plantations. […] It was, however, felt in the south that a white Australia was essential, and the Commonwealth passed in 1901 an Act (No. 16) which arranged for the deportation of all Kanakas within a few years.
- 1921, W. Somerset Maugham, “Red”, in The Trembling of a Leaf: Little Stories of the South Sea Islands, The Floating Press, published 2011, page 47:
- The Kanaka at the wheel gave him a glance, but did not speak.
- 1933, Cambridge History of the British Empire, Part I, Volume VII, Cambridge University Press, Reissued 1988, Ernest Scott (editor), Australia, Volume 1, Cambridge University Press, page 313,
- So long as the Kanakas remained, white labour in Queensland went into the mills, from which the Kanakas were excluded, rather than into the cane brakes. Slowly, however, the change proceeded. The gentleman planter, owning broad estates worked by Kanaka gangs, crushing and refining his own sugar after a fashion in the plantation mill, was by that time obsolescent. Though the small farmers into whose hands the plantations were divided might employ a Kanaka or two, no Kanaka might own land.
Descendants
Translations
a person of Hawaiian descent
See also
Hawaiian
Etymology
From Proto-Polynesian *taŋata, cognate with Maori tangata
Pronunciation
Noun
kanaka (irregular plural kānaka)
Descendants
References
- Pukui, Mary Kawena, Elbert, Samuel H. (1986) “kanaka”, in Hawaiian Dictionary, revised & enlarged edition, Honolulu, HI: University of Hawai'i Press, →ISBN, page 127
Javanese
Alternative forms
Noun
kanaka (krama ngoko kuku, krama inggil kanaka)
- (anatomy) Krama inggil of kuku.
References
- The Linguistic Center of Yogyakarta (2015) “kanaka”, in Kamus Basa Jawa (Bausastra Jawa) (in Javanese), Yogyakarta: Kanisius, →ISBN
Tok Pisin
Etymology
Probably from German Kanake (see other entries on this page for more).
Noun
kanaka