is a
Hawaiian term meaning "
family
Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...
" (in an
extended sense of the term, including blood-related, adoptive or intentional).
The term is
cognate
In historical linguistics, cognates or lexical cognates are sets of words that have been inherited in direct descent from an etymological ancestor in a common parent language.
Because language change can have radical effects on both the s ...
with
Māori
Māori or Maori can refer to:
Relating to the Māori people
* Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group
* Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand
* Māori culture
* Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...
, meaning "nest".
The root word refers to the root or
corm
Corm, bulbo-tuber, or bulbotuber is a short, vertical, swollen, underground plant stem that serves as a storage organ that some plants use to survive winter or other adverse conditions such as summer drought and heat (perennation).
The word ''c ...
of the , or
taro
Taro (; ''Colocasia esculenta'') is a root vegetable. It is the most widely cultivated species of several plants in the family Araceae that are used as vegetables for their corms, leaves, stems and Petiole (botany), petioles. Taro corms are a ...
plant (the staple "staff of life" in Hawaii), which
Kanaka Maoli
Native Hawaiians (also known as Indigenous Hawaiians, Kānaka Maoli, Aboriginal Hawaiians, or simply Hawaiians; , , , and ) are the Indigenous peoples of Oceania, Indigenous Polynesians, Polynesian people of the Hawaiian Islands.
Hawaiʻi was set ...
consider to be their cosmological ancestor.
In contemporary Hawaiian real estate jargon, an " unit" is a type of
secondary suite
A secondary suite (also known as an accessory dwelling unit (ADU), in-law apartment, granny flat, granny annex or garden suite) is a self-contained apartment, cottage, or small residential unit that is located on a property that has a separate ...
. It is a part of a house or a separate structure on the same lot that may contain a relative but which may not be rented to the general public.
In popular culture
The word is referenced in
Disney's
The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...
2002 film, ''
Lilo & Stitch
''Lilo & Stitch'' () is a 2002 American animated Science fiction film, science fiction comedy-drama film, comedy-drama film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation for Walt Disney Pictures. It was written and directed by Chris Sanders and De ...
'', and is the overall theme throughout its
franchise ("Ohana means family. Family means nobody gets left behind—or forgotten.").
Ohana is used again in the 2025
live-action
Live action is a form of cinematography or videography that uses photography instead of animation. Some works combine live action with animation to create a live-action animated feature film. Live action is used to define film, video games or ...
adaption of ''Lilo & Stitch''. In the film, Ohana is referred beyond biological family and extends to the supporting characters, David and his grandmother Tūtū, who eventually adopt Lilo themselves. Their adoption of Lilo is called "''hanai''" or "''hanai-ohana''", a version of adoptive relationship in Hawaiian tradition referenced by the film's character Mrs. Kekoa.
See also
*
*
*
(social support groups)
*
bar
*
*
References
*
* City & County of Honolulu 2003. ''Land Use Ordinance''
*
*
*
Citations
Hawaii culture
Hawaiian words and phrases
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