English words from Polynesian languages
Words English picked up in the Pacific, most of them first written down by European sailors in the 18th century.
- Taboo
Captain James Cook logged the word "taboo" in June 1777, during his third Pacific voyage, borrowing it directly from the Tongan tabu, something set apart as sacred or forbidden. It's one of a handful of English words, alongside tattoo, that trace straight…
From the Sun, Sep 6, 2026 roundup → - Tattoo
The word "tattoo" entered English through Captain James Cook's 1769 journal, describing what he saw during his first visit to Tahiti. It's a direct borrowing from the Polynesian word for the tapping sound made by the traditional tool used to apply the ink —…
From the Tue, Sep 1, 2026 roundup → - Ukulele
The Hawaiian name for the small four-stringed "ukulele" translates literally to "jumping flea," one popular explanation being that it described how quickly a player's fingers moved across the strings. A competing story credits the nickname of Edward Purvis, a…
From the Thu, Aug 20, 2026 roundup → - Wikipedia
Ward Cunningham launched the first wiki website in March 1995 and named it after the Wiki Wiki Shuttle, the bus that a counter agent at Honolulu International Airport had once told him to take between terminals; "wiki" is Hawaiian for "quick." When Jimmy…
From the Thu, Sep 17, 2026 roundup →