lei

Etymology

It is borrowed from Hawaiian lei,^{[2][3][4][5][6][7]} in which the word means any ornament worn around the neck or on the head, usually one given as a sign of affection.^[3][2] Dictionary.com dates the borrowing to 1835–45 and records the variant spelling “ley”.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

A Hawaiian garland: the first record is in J. J. Jarves's history of the Hawaiian Islands (1843).^[5][3][4]

Semantic evolution

In English the word has kept the Hawaiian sense, and the dictionaries extend it to Polynesia generally: a garland or necklace of flowers, leaves, feathers or shells, often given as a symbol of affection.^[5][6][4] Collins limits it to Hawaii.^[7]

Timeline

• 1843 – a Hawaiian garland of flowers.^[5][3][4]

Meanings

Noun

1. A garland, wreath or necklace of flowers, leaves, feathers or shells, worn around the neck in Hawaii and elsewhere in Polynesia, often given as a sign of affection: Each guest was greeted with a lei of orchids.^[4][5][7][6]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b c d e Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
8. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House