haole

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Hawaiian haole.

Noun

haole (plural haole or haoles)

1. (Hawaii, somewhat derogatory) A non-Hawaiian, usually specifically a white.
   • 1946, Armine Von Tempski, Bright Spurs, page 122:

     I had never known any haoles except Elmer and Marks and they were ice cold affairs. Everyone was always glad when their twice-a-month visit was pau. The very island seemed to sigh with relief […]

   • 2009 January 18, Lois-ann Yamanaka, “This Man Is an Island”, in New York Times‎^[2]:

     And the white guy who ate Rice-A-Roni with butter was the haole who didn’t speak pidgin or eat real rice.

   • 2012, Julia Flynn Siler, Lost Kingdom, Grove Press, page 27:

     Commerce was flourishing in the kingdom and the rising merchant class was made up largely of haole rather than Hawaiians.

Derived terms

• haole time
• hapa haole
• Kill Haole Day

 

Anagrams

• a**hole, a-hole, ahole

Hawaiian

Etymology

Unknown. The word pre-dates contact with Europeans. A popular folk etymology analyzes the word as hā (“breath”) +‎ ʻole (“not”), referencing the fact that foreigners did not know the traditional honi greeting, which involves simultaneous inhalation. However, such a derivation is unlikely: haole lacks the long ā and glottal stop that would be expected if this were the origin of the word.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈhao̯.le/, [ˈhɐo̯.le]

Noun

haole

1. foreigner
2. Caucasian
3. Englishman, Englishwoman, American

Verb

haole

1. (stative) foreign
2. (stative) Caucasian, white
3. (stative) English, American

   ʻōlelo haole — English language