| [Hawaiian Dictionary (Hawaiian)] |
| moa n. 1. Chicken, red jungle chicken (Gallus gallus), fowl, as brought to Hawaiʻi by Polynesians; for some people, an ʻaumakua. ʻO luna, ʻo lalo, ʻo uka, ʻo kai, ʻo ka moa kona ame Kākuhihewa (For. 4:510), above, below, inland, seaward, the chicken is his and Kākuhihewa's [moa here probably represents supreme rule; Cf. Ka-welo's chant: He liʻi ka moa, kau ana ka moa i luna o ka hale (FS 101), the chicken is a chief, the chicken perches at the top of the house]. (PPN moa.) 2. A native banana fruit with large and plump skin and flesh yellow, edible raw or cooked, growing in a small bunch. Also huamoa. (HP 176.) (Probably PPN moa.) 3. Tufted, green, leafless plants (Psilotum nudum and P. complanatum), about 30 cm long, with many slender branches, growing in most tropical countries, both on trees and on the ground. Hawaiians used them medicinally (the spore powder as a purge), and their children played a game with them. (Neal 1–2.) Sometimes called moa nahele, pipi. 4. Children's game played with moa twigs; the tiny branches were interlocked, and the players pulled on the ends; the loser's twigs broke and the winner crowed like a rooster (moa). 5. A dart, tapering at one end, usually 25 to 60 cm long, used in a sliding game on which bets were made. Cf. paheʻe 3. Hoʻoholoholo moa, to slide the moa dart. 6. Var. of pahu, trunkfish (Ostracion meleagris). (PPN moa.) 7. Stone fastened to rope, used as a war weapon, said to be triangular in shape. 8. A small gastropod mollusk. Also kāmoa. |
