Etymograph

English

puka

Puka comes from Hawaiian puka ‘hole’, and goes back to Proto-Polynesian *puta.

  1. Proto-Polynesianprehistoric (reconstructed)*putareconstructed
  2. Hawaiianmodernpuka‘hole’
  3. Englishtodaypuka

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

Lineage

  1. Proto-Polynesianprehistoric (reconstructed)*putareconstructed
  2. Hawaiianmodernpuka‘hole’
  3. Englishtodaypuka

Every English word from Proto-Polynesian *puta

Another origin of puka

  1. English1500–presentpuckuncertain
  2. Irishc. 1200–presentpúca‘hobgoblin’
  3. Englishtodaypuka

Another origin of puka

  1. Proto-Polynesianprehistoric (reconstructed)*puka‘any littoral Pisonia, Hernandia spp’reconstructed
  2. Māorimodernpuka‘cabbage’
  3. Englishtodaypuka

Today it means

noun A small, usually perforated, wave- and beach-polished shell fragment formed from the spire of a cone, found along beaches of Pacific islands, and used especially to make necklaces.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Polynesian *puta / puka

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