luau

English

Performers at a commercial luau

Alternative forms

• lūʻau

Etymology

From Hawaiian lūʻau. Replaced earlier paina (from pāʻina) and ahaaina (from ʻahaʻaina).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈlu.aʊ/

Noun

luau (plural luaus or luau)

1. An elaborate Hawaiian feast featuring traditional foods and entertainment.
   • 2012, Julia Flynn Siler, Lost Kingdom, Grove Press, published 2012, page 13:

     Other Americans and Europeans also made their way into court, drawn by its brilliant pageants and lavish lū‘au, or feasts.

   • 2014 July 7, Hermione Hoby, “Mike Myers: why I made a film about supermensch Shep Gordon”, in The Guardian‎^[1]:

     MM: No secrets for him because he's the king of Hawaii. And so he said, "Do you want to come to a luau with Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger and Whoopi Goldberg?"

Translations

elaborate Hawaiian feast

• French: luau (fr) m
• Hawaiian: lūʻau
• Portuguese: luau (pt) m

See also

• hula

Further reading

• lūʻau on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Pukui, Mary Kawena; Samuel H. Elbert (1986), Hawaiian Dictionary, Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Press, →ISBN, p. 214

Portuguese

Noun

luau m (plural luaus)

1. luau (elaborate Hawaiian feast)

Romanian

Verb

luau

1. third-person plural imperfect of lua

   ei luau ― they took