pololia
The Hawaiian word for jellyfish is pololia.
pololia is the term used for this aquatic animal. Note that the related term ūpene may sometimes be used to refer to other gelatinous sea creatures, such as sea anemones.
Meaning: aquatic animal (noun)
Did you know?
- Traditional Hawaiian navigators used the presence of certain floating organisms, including those called pololia, as biological signs to help determine their proximity to land or specific currents.
- Because Hawaiian is a highly descriptive language, a speaker might choose a different term for a jellyfish based on how its movement or sting affects the person describing it.
- The term pololia belongs to a conceptual group of organisms that ancient Hawaiians categorized by physical traits, such as being soft or stinging, rather than by modern biological species.
Examples in context
- He pololia kēia.This is a jellyfish.
Example conversation
Kiana and Keanu are swimming at the beach.
- KianaKeanu, e nānā i ka pololia!Keanu, look at the jellyfish!
- KeanuHe pololia nui kēlā.That is a big jellyfish.
- KianaʻAʻole pono ke pā i kēlā.We should not touch that.
- KeanuʻAe, e holo mau loa.Yes, let's move far away.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “jellyfish” translations, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
