ʻuhila

Tongan

Etymology

From Proto-Polynesian *quhila (compare with Hawaiian uila, Maori uira, Tahitian uira and Samoan uila), from Proto-Oceanic *qusila (compare with Fijian cila (“to shine”)), from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *silaq (“outpouring or beam of light”)[1] related to Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *qusilak (“lightning”).[2] Compare with Maori uira and hiko, Hawaiian uila plus Tahitian uira for semantic extension into "electricity".

Noun

ʻuhila

  1. lightning
  2. electricity

References
  1. Ross Clark and Simon J. Greenhill, editors (2011), “quhila”, in POLLEX-Online: The Polynesian Lexicon Project Online
  2. Ross, Malcolm D., Pawley, Andrew, Osmond, Meredith (2008) The lexicon of Proto-Oceanic, volume 3: The Physical Environment, Canberra: Australian National University, →ISBN, page 149
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