poi

See also: POI and P.O.I.

English

Pronunciation

• (UK, General American) IPA^(key): /pɔɪ/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔɪ

Etymology 1

A bowl of poi.

Borrowed from Hawaiian poi.

Noun

poi (uncountable)

1. (Hawaii) The traditional staple food of Hawaii, made by baking and pounding the kalo (or taro) root, and reducing it to a thin paste, which is allowed to ferment. [from 18th c.]
   • 2012, Julia Flynn Siler, Lost Kingdom, Grove Press, page 104:

     It was a far cry from the traditional Hawaiian feast, which always included the beloved poi, a purplish paste made from pounded taro root […] .

2. A creamy Samoan dessert of ripe bananas mashed with coconut cream.

Etymology 2

Fire poi (juggling).

Borrowed from Maori poi.

Noun

poi (plural poi or pois)

1. (New Zealand) A small ball made of leaves and fibres, attached to a string. [from 19th c.]
   • 2008, Ellen Koskoff, “Haka poi”, in The Concise Garland Encyclopedia of World Music, Routledge, →ISBN, page 738:

     Warriors formerly used poi actions to maintain wrist flexibility, but poi have developed as a women's dance. Classic poi dances and songs are reputed to have been those of the people of the Taranaki, Rotorua, and Whanganui tribal areas, but poi are now performed everywhere in Aotearoa.

   • 2013, Catriona Rainsford, The Urban Circus: Travels with Mexico's Malabaristas, Bradt Travel Guides, →ISBN, page 18:

     A couple of days later Trico announced that, if I were to travel with them, it was imperative that I learn some form of malabares, or circus skill. The available options were poi, staff or juggling. ‘Poi’, the form of malabares that Sandra played, are two balls at the end of chains which are spun in patterns around the body. When the balls are replaced by wicks soaked in gasoline and set alight, the poi ‘spin fire’.

2. (New Zealand) A traditional dance performed by Maori women involving the rhythmic swinging of such a ball. [from 19th c.]

Further reading

• poi (food) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• poi (performance art) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• IOP, IPO, OPI, PIO, Pio

Guaraní

Verb

poi

1. to quit (doing something)
2. to let go, to unleash

Conjugation

    Conjugation of poi

		singular			plural
		1st person	2nd person	3rd person	1st person inclusive	1st person exclusive	2nd person	3rd person
active
	indicative	che apoi	nde repoi	ha'e opoi	ñande japoi	ore ropoi	peẽ pepoi	ha'ekuéra opoi/opoi hikuái
	hortative	tapoi che	terepoi nde	topoi ha'e	tajapoi ñande	taropoi ore	tapepoi peẽ	topoi ha'ekuéra/hikuái
	imperative	-	epoi	-	-	-	pepoi	-
passive
	indicative	che ajepoi	nde rejepoi	ha'e ojepoi	ñande jajepoi	ore rojepoi	peẽ pejepoi	ha'ekuéra ojepoi/ojepoi hikuái
	hortative	tajepoi che	terejepoi nde	tojepoi ha'e	tajajepoi ñande	tarojepoi ore	tapejepoi peẽ	tojepoi ha'ekuéra/hikuái
	imperative	-	ejepoi	-	-	-	pejepoi	-
reciprocal
	indicative	-	-	-	ñande jajopoi	ore rojopoi	peẽ pejopoi	ha'ekuéra ojopoi/ojopoi hikuái
	hortative	-	-	-	tajajopoi ñande	tarojopoi ore	tapejopoi peẽ	tojopoi ha'ekuéra/hikuái
	imperative	-	-	-	-	-	pejopoi	-
coactive
	indicative	che ambopoi	nde rembopoi	ha'e ombopoi	ñande ñambopoi	ore rombopoi	peẽ pembopoi	ha'ekuéra ombopoi/ombopoi hikuái
	hortative	tambopoi che	terembopoi nde	tombopoi ha'e	tañambopoi ñande	tarombopoi ore	tapembopoi peẽ	tombopoi ha'ekuéra/hikuái
	imperative	-	embopoi	-	-	-	pembopoi	-
objective
	indicative	che aropoi/agueropoi	nde reropoi/regueropoi	ha'e oropoi/ogueropoi	ñande jaropoi/jagueropoi	ore roropoi/rogueropoi	peẽ peropoi/pegueropoi	ha'ekuéra oropoi/ogueropoi//oropoi/ogueropoi hikuái
	hortative	taropoi/tagueropoi che	tereropoi/teregueropoi nde	toropoi/togueropoi ha'e	tajaropoi/tajagueropoi ñande	taroropoi/tarogueropoi ore	taperopoi/tapegueropoi peẽ	toropoi/togueropoi ha'ekuéra/hikuái
	imperative	-	eropoi/egueropoi	-	-	-	peropoi/pegueropoi	-
subsuntive¹
	indicative	che aporopoi/amba'epoi	nde reporopoi/remba'epoi	ha'e oporopoi/omba'epoi	ñande japoropoi/ñamba'epoi	ore roporopoi/romba'epoi	peẽ peporopoi/pemba'epoi	ha'ekuéra oporopoi/omba'epoi//oporopoi/omba'epoi hikuái
	hortative	taporopoi/tamba'epoi che	tereporopoi/teremba'epoi nde	toporopoi/tomba'epoi ha'e	tajaporopoi/tañamba'epoi ñande	taroporopoi/taromba'epoi ore	tapeporopoi/tapemba'epoi peẽ	toporopoi/tomba'epoi ha'ekuéra/hikuái
	imperative	-	eporopoi/emba'epoi	-	-	-	peporopoi/pemba'epoi	-
		¹: the subsuntive forms with -poro- are used with humans, while the forms with -mba'e- are used with animals.

Hawaiian

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Noun

poi

1. a porridge-like substance made from cooked and ground taro corm mixed with water; a traditional Hawaiian staple food

Italian

Etymology

From Vulgar Latin *pos, from Classical Latin post. Compare Portuguese pois, Spanish pues, French puis, and Romanian apoi / Romanian poi (archaic păi).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpɔj/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔj
• Hyphenation: pòi

Adverb

poi

1. then
2. later

Derived terms

• poiché

Related terms

• dopo

Noun

il poi m (invariable)

1. the future

Anagrams

• Pio, ipo-, pio, pio-

Japanese

Romanization

poi

1. Rōmaji transcription of ぽい
2. Rōmaji transcription of ポイ

Jingpho

Etymology

Borrowed from Burmese ပွဲ (pwai:).

Noun

poi

1. feast, festival

References

• Kurabe, Keita (2016 December 31) “Phonology of Burmese loanwords in Jinghpaw”, in Kyoto University Linguistic Research‎^[1], volume 35, →DOI, →ISSN, pages 91–128

Old French

Etymology

From Latin paucus.

Adjective

poi m or f (invariable)

1. few; little

Adverb

poi

1. little; not much

Pronoun

poi

1. few; not many (people, objects etc.)

Descendants

• French: peu

Polish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpɔ.i/
• Rhymes: -ɔi
• Syllabification: po‧i

Verb

poi

1. third-person singular present of poić

Romanian

Adverb

poi

1. Alternative form of apoi

Samoan

Noun

poi

1. Samoan poi

Sukurum

Noun

poi

1. water

References

• Susanne Holzknecht, The Markham languages of Papua New Guinea (1989), page 71