ʻike
/ˈʔi.ke/
The Hawaiian word for knowledge is ʻike.
ʻike means knowledge in the sense of everything that is known and what comes from learning.
Meaning: total of what is known, product of learning (noun)
What does it mean word for word?
The noun ʻike comes from the verb meaning to know, to see or to perceive, so knowledge is tied to seeing and perceiving.
Which one should you use?
naʻauao describes a person who is knowledgeable, wise or intelligent, so it is about wisdom rather than knowledge itself.
How does it change in a sentence?
ʻike works both as a noun meaning knowledge and as a verb meaning to know.
How do you pronounce it?
In IPA it is /ˈʔi.ke/, two syllables with the stress on the first. The mark at the start is the ʻokina, a glottal stop like the catch in the middle of uh oh.
What mistakes should you avoid?
Do not drop the ʻokina at the start of ʻike. It is a real consonant in Hawaiian.
Did you know?
- The term naʻauao for a wise person is built from naʻau, meaning 'gut' or 'intestines', suggesting that true intelligence resides in the center of the body.
- The word ʻike is a cognate of the Māori word kite and the Tahitian word ʻite, reflecting a shared ancestral root across the Polynesian triangle.
Examples in context
- E loaʻa ana iā ʻoe ka ʻike.You will gain knowledge.
- He ʻike koʻu e pili ana i ka ʻenana.I have knowledge about plants.
Example conversation
Two friends are discussing a school project in the library.
- MaliaKoa, he nui kou ʻike e pili ana i kēia.Koa, you have a lot of knowledge about this.
- KoaʻAʻole, Malia, he mea iki nō ia.No, Malia, it is only a small thing.
- MaliaKōkua mai iaʻu e loaʻa ka ʻike.Help me so that I may gain the knowledge.
- KoaʻAe, e nānā kākou i ka puke.Yes, let us look at the book.
Sources
- Pronunciation: Wiktionary entry ʻike, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries ʻike, CC BY-SA 4.0.
