Word of the Day · Archive
The Hawaiian word for October 14, 2026
Archive · October 14, 2026
ʻŌPIO
say it: oh-PEE-oh
Youth, a young person, a youngster — the generation that carries what the elders have kept alive.
What it means
ʻŌpio means youth, juvenile, youngster, and also “young” or “junior.” The Pukui-Elbert dictionary gives it as a single entry that works for a young person and for the quality of being young.
It is also the word used after a name for “Junior.” Pukui-Elbert gives the example Kale ʻŌpio, “Charles, Junior.” Older dictionaries describe the same word as “young; juvenile, as a person,” and also say it was used of animals and of things not yet fully grown or ripened.
Say it in three beats with the stress on the middle: oh-PEE-oh. The first sound is the kahakō-marked ō, held a little longer, and the ʻ before it is the ʻokina, a brief catch in the breath.
How to use it
Every phrase below is documented in the Pukui-Elbert dictionary or, where noted, in Māmaka Kaiao, as shown on Wehewehe Wikiwiki.
He ʻōpio
“A youth.” Pukui-Elbert glosses ʻōpio as youth, juvenile, youngster, and the he before it simply means “a.”
Hoʻōpio
“To make young, freshen, refresh, rejuvenate; to act young” (Pukui-Elbert). The hoʻo- prefix means “to cause” or “to make.”
Pae ʻōpio
“Junior varsity, as a league of sports at school” (Māmaka Kaiao). A modern term built from an older word.
Kale ʻŌpio
“Charles, Junior” (Pukui-Elbert). Māmaka Kaiao also lists ʻŌpio as the term for “Junior” in names.
Why this word matters
Yesterday’s word was hula, a practice passed hand to hand and voice to voice. Today’s word is about who receives it: the ʻōpio, the young.
Every tradition is only one generation from being lost, or one generation from being carried on.
The dictionary’s entry is plain: youth, juvenile, youngster. But the family around it is worth noticing. Hoʻōpio turns the word into an action: to refresh, to rejuvenate, to act young. Youth, in the language, is something that can be renewed.
It is also a word that has found new work. In schools, pae ʻōpio is the junior varsity league, and in names, ʻŌpio is “Junior.” An old word keeps showing up wherever the next generation does.
Today is Pōʻakolu, Wednesday. If there is a young person in your life, a keiki learning a first phrase, a student, a cousin, ask them to teach you a word. The one who learns is also the one who carries it forward.
Sources
ʻŌpio — youth, juvenile, youngster, young, junior — with the example Kale ʻŌpio (Charles, Junior) and hoʻōpio (to make young, freshen, refresh, rejuvenate; to act young) are from the Pukui-Elbert Hawaiian Dictionary (1986) as shown on Wehewehe Wikiwiki (wehe.hilo.hawaii.edu). Pae ʻōpio (junior varsity) and ʻŌpio as “Junior” in names are from Māmaka Kaiao (2003+) on the same site. The sense of “young, juvenile, not fully grown” is also recorded in Andrews (1865) and Parker (1922). Pōʻakolu, Wednesday, is standard Hawaiian usage.