Word.ws English Dictionary

kanaka

kanaka noun: a person of Hawaiian descent.

Noun (1)

kanaka (plural kanakas or kanaka)

  1. A person of Hawaiian descent.
    • It was considered one of the nation’s strictest bans because of the reference to Kanakas – native Hawaiians – and because Nevada was the only other state to add Chinese.2004 October 29, Peter Wong, “Interracial-marriage ban used in Measure 36 comparisons”, in Statesman Journal, volume 152, number 214, Salem, OR, page 2A
    • "Who was the call from?"
      "I don't know. Sound like a kanaka though.” When Erin frowned, he added, “A Hawaiian, like me.”2010, Mike Farris, Kanaka Blues, Savant Books and Publications, page 21
  2. (historical) A South Pacific Islander, especially a labourer in Australia or Canada.
    • There remains one case to be considered, that of the deportation of the Kanakas who were introduced into Queensland for the purpose of work on the sugar plantations.[…]It was, however, felt in the south that a white Australia was essential, and the Commonwealth passed in 1901 an Act (No. 16) which...1912, Arthur Berriedale Keith, Responsible Government in the Dominions, Volume II, page 1098
    • The Kanaka at the wheel gave him a glance, but did not speak.1921, W. Somerset Maugham, “Red”, in The Trembling of a Leaf: Little Stories of the South Sea Islands, The Floating Press, published 2011, page 47

Noun (2) capitalized: Kanaka

Kanaka (plural Kanakas or Kanaka)

  1. Alternative letter-case form of kanaka.

kanaka meaning in Marathi

kanaka in Marathi

a person of Hawaiian descent
कानाका kānākā

Forms of kanaka

pluralkanakas
pluralkanaka
alternative formKanaka
pluralKanakas
pluralKanaka

Origin of kanaka

1840. From Hawaiian kanaka (“person”), ultimately from Proto-Polynesian *taŋata.

Phrases with kanaka

Questions about kanaka

What does kanaka mean?
Kanaka means a person of Hawaiian descent.
What is kanaka in Marathi?
Kanaka in Marathi is कानाका (kānākā). See Kanaka meaning in Marathi.
What part of speech is kanaka?
Kanaka is a noun.
What is the plural of kanaka?
The plural of kanaka is kanakas.

Words near kanaka in the dictionary

  1. Kanagys
  2. Kanahooka
  3. kanaima
  4. kanaimas
  5. Kanak
  6. kanaka
  7. Kanaka Maoli
  8. Kanakanavu
  9. Kanakangi
  10. kanakas
  11. Kanako

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: kanaka (page history and authors); Kanaka (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “kanaka.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/kanaka. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.