The story
- Hawaiian · borrowed fromWailuku
- English todayWailuku
From Hawaiian Wailuku, from wai (“freshwater”) + luku (“slaughter; destroy; devastate”). Named after flooding caused by the streams near the West Maui mountains, or the Battle of Kepaniwai in 1790, referring to the dead soldiers' bodies that blocked a nearby river.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.