English
hapa
Hapa comes from Hawaiian hapa ‘half of something’, and goes back to Proto-Germanic *halbaz.
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*halbaz‘half’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*halb‘half’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150healf‘half’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500half
- English1500–presenthalf
- Hawaiianmodernhapa‘half of something’
- Englishearliest quotation 2016hapa
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*halbaz‘half’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*halb‘half’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150healf‘half’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500half
- English1500–presenthalf
- Hawaiianmodernhapa‘half of something’
- Englishearliest quotation 2016hapa
Earliest quotation: 2016, Akemi Johnson, Who Gets To Be 'Hapa'?: “It's what my fiancé and I call ourselves, and…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *(s)kelH- ‘to cut’
skill, shell, shield, skull, shale, shilling, shoal, schilling, halter, shelve, schelling, 14 more
through Proto-Germanic *halbaz ‘half’
through Middle English half
Today it means
noun A person of mixed ethnic heritage, especially half East or Southeast Asian or Pacific Islander and half White.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Germanic *halbaz / hapa