Word of the Day · Archive
The Hawaiian word for May 25, 2026
Archive · May 25, 2026
HOʻOMANAʻO
say it: ho-oh-MAH-nah-oh
To remember · To recall · To commemorate — to cause a thought to live again
What it means
The Pukui-Elbert Hawaiian Dictionary defines hoʻomanaʻo as to remember, recall, commemorate, reflect deeply on, meditate. As a noun it carries the related senses of remembrance, memory, recollection. One word that names both the act of pulling something back into mind and the thing itself once it has returned.
The architecture of the word is worth pausing on. Hoʻomanaʻo is built from two pieces: the causative prefix hoʻo- (to cause, to make, to bring about) and the root manaʻo (thought, idea, opinion, the workings of the mind). Stitched together, the word means — almost literally — to cause a thought. To remember, in this construction, is not passive. It is something you do on purpose. You cause the thought to come.
That construction matters because it shapes how Hawaiian speakers talk about remembering. A memorial is not merely a date on a calendar; it is an act of causing thought. A souvenir — mea hoʻomanaʻo — is literally a “thing that causes a thought.” A monument — kia hoʻomanaʻo — is a pillar that causes thought. The word treats memory as something built, kept, and returned to with intention.
How to use it
These constructions are all documented in the Pukui-Elbert Hawaiian Dictionary:
Why this word matters
Today is Memorial Day. So today the word is hoʻomanaʻo — to remember, to commemorate, to cause a thought. Hawaiʻi has a particular relationship with remembering, and the word itself tells you why.
Look at how hoʻomanaʻo is built. The prefix hoʻo- is the Hawaiian way of saying to cause, to make happen. Stick it in front of a noun or a stative and you get a verb of intention. Manaʻo is thought — the workings of the mind, the things you believe, the ideas that arrive. Put them together and you do not get “to recall” in the casual English sense, where memory just floats up unbidden. You get something closer to to cause a thought. To set a memory back in motion on purpose.
To remember, in ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi, is something you do on purpose.
That shifts the weight of a day like today. A memorial is not a moment of feeling that happens to you — it is an act of hoʻomanaʻo, work you choose to do. You cause the thought of the person to come. You cause the thought of the place. You cause the thought of what was given so the rest could continue. Memory, in this framing, is a kind of labor. It is also a kind of aloha, which is why the dictionary records hoʻomanaʻo aloha — to remember with affection — and he hoʻomanaʻo — in memoriam.
The same root shows up in the everyday. A mea hoʻomanaʻo is a souvenir — a thing that causes thought. A kia hoʻomanaʻo is a monument — a pillar that causes thought. We build these objects, place them, return to them, precisely because the work of remembering does not finish. It has to keep being done.
So if you take one thing from today: hoʻomanaʻo is not a passive verb. It is a small, deliberate act — pausing, naming, causing a thought to come. A name said out loud. A photo turned toward the light. A flower set on a stone. That is the verb. Today, of all days, is the day to do it.
Sources
Pukui, Mary Kawena, and Samuel H. Elbert. Hawaiian Dictionary, revised and enlarged edition (University of Hawaiʻi Press). The Pukui-Elbert entry for hoʻomanaʻo — to remember, recall, commemorate, reflect deeply on, meditate; remembrance, memory — and the related entries hoʻo- (causative prefix), manaʻo (thought, idea, opinion), mea hoʻomanaʻo (souvenir, keepsake, reminder, memorandum), kia hoʻomanaʻo (monument, memorial tablet), hoʻomanaʻo aloha (remember with affection), and he hoʻomanaʻo (in memoriam) are accessible via wehewehe.org. Additional Hawaiian-language reference materials at ulukau.org.