fetū

Tahitian

Etymology

From Proto-Polynesian *fetuqu (cognate with Hawaiian hōkū and Māori whetū), from Proto-Oceanic *pituqun, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *bituqən, from Proto-Austronesian *bituqən (cognate with Tagalog bituin). Astronomical sense displaced later by fetiʻa due to tapu by association with names of certain royalty.

Noun

fetū

  1. (archaic, obsolete) star
    Synonym: fetiʻa
  2. starfish, sea star

References

  • Lemaître, Yves (1995), Lexique du tahitien contemporain [Current Tahitian lexicon]‎[1] (in French), Paris: Éditions de l'Orstom, →ISBN
  • “fetū” in Dictionnaire en ligne Tahitien/Français (Online Tahitian–French Dictionary), by the Tahitian Academy.
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