English word origin

Etymology of nene

Borrowed from Hawaiian nēnē, which is imitative of the bird’s call.

1 source sectionBrief source recordWiktionary original ↗

In this entry · 1 source sections

The source etymologies

Wiktionary via Kaikki / Wiktextract

The source reports below are imported and unreviewed by *SET-U. Separate numbered origins and differing source variants are preserved; agreement within this extraction is not independent corroboration.

Unnumbered source etymology

Original entry ↗

noun

The Hawaiian goose, Branta sandvicensis, which was designated the state bird of Hawaii in 1957.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

Borrowed from Hawaiian nēnē, which is imitative of the bird’s call.

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

Borrowed-form mentionnēnēhaw

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

{
  "templates": [
    {
      "name": "taxfmt",
      "args": {
        "1": "Branta sandvicensis",
        "2": "species"
      },
      "expansion": "Branta sandvicensis"
    },
    {
      "name": "bor+",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "haw",
        "3": "nēnē"
      },
      "expansion": "Borrowed from Hawaiian nēnē"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "Hawaiian goose",
      "Hawaiian goose"
    ],
    [
      "Branta sandvicensis",
      "Branta sandvicensis#Translingual"
    ],
    [
      "Kauai",
      "Kauai"
    ],
    [
      "Hawaii",
      "Hawaii"
    ],
    [
      "nēnē",
      "nēnē#Hawaiian"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "noun",
      "glosses": [
        "The Hawaiian goose, Branta sandvicensis, which was designated the state bird of Hawaii in 1957."
      ],
      "tags": [],
      "recordId": "30cdb2a5921dda5a29306eda7c1d8be06274a56b75a555a0123ab5ead4fb2f9c",
      "rawRecordSha256": "0288514d207b65f46b31031fd16a76bdad5b0a4e3323457084d5717e8bf6e5a2",
      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 345165
    }
  ],
  "omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
    "templates": 0,
    "links": 0,
    "references": 0,
    "descendants": 0,
    "lexicalRecords": 0,
    "lexicalSenses": 0,
    "glosses": 0
  }
}

Where this record stops

This page does not supply an independently verified sound-change sequence, first-use manuscript or complete family tree unless a cited analysis explicitly establishes one. Missing detail here is a limit of this record—not a claim that humanity knows nothing more.

An older meaning does not determine what a word must mean today. Follow the sources, preserve disagreements, and keep ancestry separate from interpretation.

Contribute located evidence for nene →

Source and snapshot

Imported from Wiktionary contributors; extracted by Tatu Ylonen / Wiktextract / Kaikki.org. Selected fields are reformatted and grouped; wording, source identity and etymology sections are retained. CC-BY-SA-4.0 applies to the imported source material.

Dump: 2026-10-01 · Extracted: 2026-10-30. These are snapshot dates, not the word’s first attestation or the page’s revision date.

Source entry and bibliography ↗Wiktionary revision history ↗Acquisition and rights ledger

Machine-source provenance

Source SHA-256: 5ff2c072f8099f2d2ce484bd6957bf179f046d2ad37bc36555edf8bb84cb5291
Import run: 73216b9a9b78ed3830994bf853103716f5a4dc57099e371e9f8fdc468facca26
Permanent entry ID: w-bmVuZQ