Meanings
plural apapanes
- A member of the bright red species of honeycreeper, Himatione sanguinea, found in Hawaii.
Look for this bright Hawaiian honeycreeper among flocks of appapanes in the forest.
2023, William W. Dunmire, Birds of the National Parks in Hawaii3 more examples
The species most commonly noted by strangers, however, is the beautiful dark blood-red bird, the apapane of the natives.
1915, William Alanson Bryan, Natural History of Hawaii, page 329The specimen is in perfect order, the colors bright as when made. The yellow is oo, the central crescent is of black oo on the upper half and crimson apapane feathers on the lower.
1918, Memoirs of the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum of Polynesian Ethnology and Natural History, page 28Both iiwis and apapanes also consume arthropods by gleaning and occasionally flycatching (pers. observ.).
2021, Laura Landweber, Andrew Dobson, Genetics and the Extinction of Species, page 144
Origin
- Hawaiianàpapane
- Englishapapane
Borrowed from Hawaiian àpapane.
More words from Hawaiian
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
apapane. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/apapane
“apapane.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/apapane. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “apapane,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/apapane.
Source: apapane on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.