Etymology

kava

K5A1V4A1

Today it means: Any member of the species Piper methysticum, a plant from the South Pacific. Full definition →

Tongan kava ← Proto-Polynesian *kawa ← Proto-Oceanic *kawaʀ
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kava · noun1

  1. Proto-Oceanic*kawaʀ
  2. Proto-Polynesian*kawa
  3. Tongankava
  4. English todaykava

From Tongan kava, in turn from Proto-Polynesian *kawa. Doublet of ʻawa, ava, kawa, and yava.

Kava · proper noun2

  1. Proto-Slavic · derived from*kavъka“jackdaw”
  2. Polish · borrowed fromKawa
  3. English todayKava

Transliteration of Ukrainian Кава (Kava) or a phonetic respelling of Polish Kawa, from kawa (“jackdaw”); ultimately from Proto-Slavic *kavъka (“jackdaw”).

Words from the same roots

Proto-Polynesian*kawa all →

awapuhi

PolishKawa all →

kawa

Proto-Slavic*kavъka all →

Kafkakawa

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.