| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000. |
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| humuhumunukunukuapuaa |
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| SYLLABICATION: | hu·mu·hu·mu·nu·ku·nu·ku·a·pu·a·a |
| PRONUNCIATION: |  h  m-hm-nk-nk-äp-ä ä |
| NOUN: | Inflected forms: pl. humuhumunukunukuapuaa or hu·mu·hu·mu·nu·ku·nu·ku·a·pu·a·as
Either of two triggerfishes, Rhinecanthus aculeatus or R. rectangulus, native to the outer reefs of Hawaii, the latter having a broad black band on the side and a black triangle at the beginning of the tail. | | ETYMOLOGY: | Hawaiian humuhumu-nukunuku- -pua'a, trigger fish with a blunt snout like a pig's : humuhumu, small trigger fish (from reduplication of Proto-Polynesian *sumu, trigger fish) + nukunuku, small snout, reduplication of nuku, snout + , like + pua'a, pig.
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| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
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