Do you know the definition of ohana? This article will provide you with all of the information you need on the word ohana, including its definition, etymology, usage, example sentences, and more!
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Kevin
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September 4, 2021
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What does the word ohana mean?
According to Maui Accommodations, the word ohana means family. This Hawaiian word is commonly used in Hawaii to refer to a relative or person for which you have compassion. This is famously used in the disney movie Lilo and Stitch, in which it is a central theme. The pronunciation of ohana is oha-ana and begins with a glottal stop. Someone could refer to an aunty, close friends, grandparents, colleagues, a cosmological ancestor, blood-related person, elders, and more outside of the general public as ohana or bruddah in an extended sense of the term. This word can refer to family on a literal level or people in your relationship networks. One might bring ohana into their nest through places of work or recreational activities. One might find harmony and unity with people who are not blood related. It is a great honor of loyalty to be considered ohana.
The origin of the word ohana comes from part of the taro plant for Kanaka Maoli, namely the shoot of the plant or corm of the kalo, which can be cut to grow a new plant called the root word ʻohā, and ana is a word that conveys “regeneration.” When researching Hawaiian words on other websites, make sure you pay attention to technologies they use that are necessary for critical functions like security and site integrity, account authentication, security and privacy preferences, internal site usage and maintenance data, and to make the site work correctly for browsing and transactions. Some will make you enter a valid email address to register for an account through which you can get exclusive offers, basic site functions, third party technologies, ad blockers, Etsy ads, a better experience, security settings, user data, and more. Beware – older versions of your web browser may prevent you from accessing your own information, the latest version of a website like Etsy’s advertising platform, site traffic, advertising partners, and other things with relevancy. If you have trouble, try a different browser.
Many different languages also use words that mean ohana. You may notice that some of these words look similar to one another. These are called cognates, which are often formed when two words have the same origin or root language. This list of translations of ohana is provided by Word Sense.
- Welsh: teulu
- Cherokee: ᏏᏓᏁᎸᎯ
- Telugu: కుటుంబము
- Portuguese: família (fem.)
- German: Familie (fem.)
- Marathi: परिवार (masc.)
- Vietnamese: gia đinh (家庭), gia tộc (家庭)
- Afrikaans: familie
- Southern Altai: биле
- Spanish: familia (fem.)
- Bengali: পরিবার
- Luganda: amaka
- Tatar: гаилә, семья
- Dutch: gezin (neut.)
- Maltese: familja (fem.)
- Ido: familio
- Nepali: परिबार (paribār)
- Hungarian: család
- Mandarin: 家 (jiā), 家庭 (jiātíng), 家族 (jiāzú)
- Kannada: ಆವಳಿ
- Albanian: familje
- Slovak: rodina (fem.)
- Azeri: ailə
- Swedish: familj, hushåll
- French: famille (fem.)
- Turkmen: maşgala
- Persian: خانوادَه (xânevâdah), خاندان (xândân), فامیل (fâmil), عائله (‘â’ile)
- Lithuanian: šeima (fem.), šeimyna (fem.)
- Chechen: доьзал
- Zhuang: ranz
- Czech: rodina (fem.)
- Malay: keluarga, famili
- Khmer: គ្រួសារ (kruəsaa)
- Malayalam: തറവാട്
- Irish: teaghlach (masc.)
- Sanskrit: कुलः (neut.), कुल (neut.)
- Corsican: famiglia (fem.)
- Russian: семья́ (fem.) , семе́йство (neut.), фами́лия (fem.) (archaic or stilted, usually means “surname”)
- Japanese: 家族 (かぞく, kazoku), (honorific) 家族, 家庭 (かてい, katei)
- Sinhalese: පවුල
- Ossetian: бинонтӕ
- Gujarati: પરિવાર (masc.)
- Bulgarian: семе́йство (neut.)
- Walloon: famile (fem.)
- Yiddish: משפּחה, מישפּאָכע (fem.)
- Ewe: ƒome
- Asturian: familia (fem.)
- Manx: lught thie (masc.), mooinjer (fem.)
- Arabic: عَائِلَة (fem.), أُسْرَة (fem.)
- Estonian: pere, perekond
- Uyghur: ئائىلە
- Friulian: famee (fem.)
- Tagalog: pamilya, mag-anak
- Romanian: familie
- Nama: ǀkhao-khoen
- Chuukese: famini
- Hebrew: מִשְׁפָּחָה
- Indonesian: keluarga, famili
- Thai: ครอบครัว
- Scottish Gaelic: teaghlach (masc.)
- Breton: familh (fem.), tiegezh (masc.)
- Sindhi: خاندان (xândân)
- Old English: faru (fem.), tēam
- Mirandese: família (fem.)
- Danish: familie (common)
- Burmese: မိသားစု
- Latin: familia (fem.), gens (fem.), gens (fem.)
- Tajik: оила, хонавода, хонадон
- Korean: 가족 (家族), 가정 (家庭)
- Dalmatian: famalja (fem.)
- Venetian: faméja (fem.)
- Egyptian Arabic: عيلة
- Bashkir: ғаилә
- Lao: ຄອບຄົວ
- Galician: familia (fem.)
- Italian: famiglia (fem.)
- Javanese: brayat
- Rusyn: фами́лія (fem.), роди́на (fem.)
- Punjabi: ਪਰਿਵਾਰ (masc.)
- Tamil: குடும்பம்
- Tashelhit: takat (fem.)
- Occitan: familha (fem.)
- Aromanian: fumealji (fem.), fumealje (fem.)
- Aragonese: familha (fem.)
- Ingush: дезал
- Interlingua: familia
- Greek: οικογένεια (fem.)
- Polish: rodzina (fem.)
- Istriot: fameîa
- Kazakh: от басы, әулет, семья
- Volapük: famül
- Abkhaz: аҭаацәа
- White Hmong: tsev neeg
- Oriya: ପରିବାର (paribār)
- Tibetan: ཁྱིམ་ཚང, མི་ཚང
- Haitian Creole: fanmi
- Sichuan Yi: ꏤ (jiet)
- Slovene: družina (fem.)
- Ukrainian: сім’я́ (fem.), роди́на (fem.)
- Maori: whānau (traditional extended), whāmere (modern nuclear)
- Uzbek: oila, xonadon
- Scots: faimlie, faimily
- Maore Comorian: mudjema
- Armenian: ընտանիք
- Roman: porodica (fem.), obitelj (fem.)
- Sicilian: famigghia (fem.)
- Pashto: کورنۍ
- Turkish: aile, ocak
- Tuvan: өг-бүле, өг-ишти
- Yucatec Maya: ch’i’ibalil
- Mingrelian: თი
- Georgian: ოჯახი
- Latgalian: saime (fem.)
- Hausa: Iyali (masc.)
- Cyrillic: породица (fem.), обитељ (fem.)
- Lower Sorbian: familija (fem.)
- Norwegian: familie (masc.)
- Icelandic: fjölskylda (fem.)
- Novial: familie
- Amharic: ቤተሰብ, ቤተሰቦች, ዘመድ አዝማድ
- Catalan: família (fem.)
- Hijazi Arabic: عيلة, أَهِل
- Navajo: hooghan hazʼą́, bił kééhashtʼíinii
- Finnish: perhe
- Hindi: परिवार (masc.), ख़ानदान (masc.), बाल-बच्चे (masc. pl.)
- Belarusian: сям’я́ (fem.), радзі́на (fem.)
- Romansch: famiglia (fem.)
- Romani: familija (fem.)
- Assamese: পৰিয়াল (pôriyāl)
- Mongolian: айл, овог, гэр бүл
- Esperanto: familio
- Urdu: خاندان, پروار
- Taos: ȕ’únemą
- Latvian: ģimene (fem.), saime (fem.)
- Macedonian: се́мејство (neut.), фами́лија (fem.)
- Kyrgyz: үй-бүлө, бүлө
- Interlingue: familie
Overall, the word ohana is a Hawaiian term meaning family. This is used on the Hawaiian mainland and in many other places. While this is often used to refer to a person’s blood relative it can also refer to people who are friends, colleagues, and more.
What are other Hawaiian words and phrases?
Check out the below list of Hawaiian words and phrases from Hawaiian Words and see how many you know!
- E Komo Mai – Welcome! Enter
- Aloha ‘oe – Farewell to you
- Aloha au ia ‘oe – I love you
- A hui hou – Until we meet again
- ‘Ae – Yes
- Aloha ‘auinalā – Good afternoon
- ‘Aumakua – Ancestral spirit, family or personal gods
- Aloha ahiahi – Good evening
- Ahupua‘a – Land division
- A hui hou kākou – Until we meet again–said to a group
- Hālau – Long house, as for canoes or hula instruction; meeting house
- Aloha – Love, affection; greeting, salutation; Hello! Good-bye!
- Akamai – Smart, Clever, Intelligent
- ‘Āina – Land, especially Hawaiian ancestral lands
- ‘A‘ole pilikia – No problem, no trouble.
- Ali‘i – Chief, chiefess, or royalty
- A‘ā – Sharp jagged lava rock
- Aloha ‘āina – Love of the land; to nurture and care for the land.
- Ala – Road, way, path
- ‘Auana – Modern; Especially relating to hula.
- ‘A‘ole pilikia – You’re welcome/No problem
- Aloha nui loa – Very much love
- Aloha kakahiaka – Good morning
- Alelo – Tongue, language.
- Akua – God
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