poi

See also: POI and P.O.I.

Translingual

Symbol

poi

  1. (international standards) ISO 639-3 language code for Highland Popoluca.

See also

  • Wiktionary’s coverage of Highland Popoluca terms

English

Pronunciation

  • (UK, General American) IPA(key): /pɔɪ/
  • Audio (Southern England):(file)
  • Rhymes: -ɔɪ

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Hawaiian poi.

Noun

poi (uncountable)

  1. (Hawaii) The traditional staple food of Hawaii, made by baking and pounding the kalo (or taro) root, and reducing it to a thin paste, which is allowed to ferment. [from 18th c.]
    • 2012, Julia Flynn Siler, Lost Kingdom, Grove Press, page 104:
      It was a far cry from the traditional Hawaiian feast, which always included the beloved poi, a purplish paste made from pounded taro root [] .
  2. A creamy Samoan dessert of ripe bananas mashed with coconut cream.

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Maori poi.

Noun

poi (plural poi or pois)

  1. (New Zealand) A small ball made of leaves and fibres, attached to a string. [from 19th c.]
    • 2008, Ellen Koskoff, “Haka poi”, in The Concise Garland Encyclopedia of World Music, Routledge, →ISBN, page 738:
      Warriors formerly used poi actions to maintain wrist flexibility, but poi have developed as a women's dance. Classic poi dances and songs are reputed to have been those of the people of the Taranaki, Rotorua, and Whanganui tribal areas, but poi are now performed everywhere in Aotearoa.
    • 2013, Catriona Rainsford, The Urban Circus: Travels with Mexico's Malabaristas, Bradt Travel Guides, →ISBN, page 18:
      A couple of days later Trico announced that, if I were to travel with them, it was imperative that I learn some form of malabares, or circus skill. The available options were poi, staff or juggling. ‘Poi’, the form of malabares that Sandra played, are two balls at the end of chains which are spun in patterns around the body. When the balls are replaced by wicks soaked in gasoline and set alight, the poi ‘spin fire’.
  2. (New Zealand) A traditional dance performed by Maori women involving the rhythmic swinging of such a ball. [from 19th c.]

Etymology 3

Noun

poi (uncountable)

  1. Alternative form of poee (Goan flatbread).

Further reading

Anagrams

Guaraní

Etymology

Cognate with Old Tupi po'ir.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): [poˈi]
  • Rhymes: -i
  • Hyphenation: po‧i

Verb

poi

  1. to quit (doing something)
  2. to let go, to unleash

Conjugation

Hawaiian

Etymology

From Proto-Polynesian *poʔoi (pounded starchy food together with a sauce or gravy), from Proto-Central Pacific *boxoi "a kind of pudding". Cognate with Maori paoi (pound, mash), Fijian bokoi (pudding).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈpo̯i/

Noun

poi

  1. a porridge-like substance made from cooked and ground taro corm mixed with water; a traditional Hawaiian staple food

Derived terms

Descendants

  • English: poi

Further reading

Italian

Etymology

From Vulgar Latin *pos, from Classical Latin post.[1] Compare Portuguese pois, Spanish pues, French puis, and Romanian apoi / Romanian poi (archaic păi).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈpɔj/
  • Audio:(file)
  • Rhymes: -ɔj
  • Hyphenation: pòi

Adverb

poi

  1. then
  2. later

Derived terms

Noun

il poi m (invariable)

  1. the future

References

  1. ^ “poi” in: Alberto Nocentini, Alessandro Parenti, “l'Etimologico — Vocabolario della lingua italiana”, Le Monnier, 2010, →ISBN

Anagrams

Japanese

Romanization

poi

  1. Rōmaji transcription of ぽい
  2. Rōmaji transcription of ポイ

Jingpho

Etymology

Borrowed from Burmese ပွဲ (pwai:).

Noun

poi

  1. feast, festival

References

  • Kurabe, Keita (31 December 2016) “Phonology of Burmese loanwords in Jinghpaw”, in Kyoto University Linguistic Research[1], volume 35, →DOI, →ISSN, pages 91–128

Maori

Etymology

From Proto-Polynesian *poi (irregular motion). Cognate with Niuean poi (run around).

Verb

poi (passive poia)

  1. to toss up
  2. to make into balls

Derived terms

  • poipoi (nurture, verb)
  • whakapoi (shake, swing, verb)

Noun

poi

  1. ball, sphere
  2. poi (tethered weights used in a poi performance)
  3. a poi performance or the accompanying music

Derived terms

Descendants

  • English: poi

Further reading

  • poi” in John C. Moorfield, Te Aka: Maori–English, English–Maori Dictionary and Index, 3rd edition, Longman/Pearson Education New Zealand, 2011, →ISBN.

Old French

Etymology

From Latin paucus.

Adjective

poi m or f (invariable)

  1. few; little

Adverb

poi

  1. little; not much

Pronoun

poi

  1. few; not many (people, objects etc.)

Descendants

Polish

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈpɔ.i/
  • Rhymes: -ɔi
  • Syllabification: po‧i

Verb

poi

  1. third-person singular present of poić

Romanian

Adverb

poi

  1. alternative form of apoi

Samoan

Noun

poi

  1. Samoan poi

Sukurum

Noun

poi

  1. water

References

  • Susanne Holzknecht, The Markham languages of Papua New Guinea (1989), page 71