mo'i

noun

A king or high chief.

OriginHawaiian mōʻī →
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Meanings

nounmo'i (plural mo'i)
  1. HawaiiA king or high chief.

    The two armies would draw up close to one another with each mō‘ī usually at the center.

    1987, Helen Wong, Ann Rayson, Hawaii's Royal History, page 37
    1 more example

    The king turned to a long-serving Hawaiian adviser and asked him to name the new mō‘ī, but he declined, saying they were all his ali‘i.

    2012, Julia Flynn Siler, Lost Kingdom, Grove Press, page 49

Origin

  1. Hawaiianmōʻī
  2. Englishmo'i

From Hawaiian mōʻī.

More words from Hawaiian

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

mo'i. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mo'i

MLA

“mo'i.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mo'i. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “mo'i,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mo'i.

Source: mo'i on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.