pau

See also: pa'u and Pau

Translingual

Symbol

pau

1. (international standards) ISO 639-2 & ISO 639-3 language code for Palauan.

See also

• Wiktionary's coverage of Palauan terms

English

Etymology 1

Noun

pau (plural paus)

1. Alternative form of pa (“Maori fort”)

Etymology 2

From Hawaiian Pidgin English pau, from Hawaiian pau (“done, finished”).

Adjective

pau (not comparable)

1. (Hawaii) done; over; finished
   • 1946, Armine Von Tempski, Bright Spurs, page 122:

     I had never known any haoles except Elmer and Marks and they were ice cold affairs. Everyone was always glad when their twice-a-month visit was pau. The very island seemed to sigh with relief […]

   • 2004, Mike Ashman, Kauaʻi Historical Society, Kauai as it was in the 1940s and '50s:

     When the county truck was pau hauling rubbish for the day, […]

Etymology 3

Noun

pau

1. (historical) A unit of volume used in Brunei, Malaysia, Sabah, and Sarawak, equivalent to 2 imperial gills (approximately 0.284 litres or 0.6 US pints).

Etymology 4

Borrowed from Chinese 包.

Noun

pau

1. (Malaysia and Singapore) Alternative form of bao (“baozi; Chinese steamed buns with filling”).

See also

• pau d'arco
• pau hana

 

Anagrams

• APU, AUP, PUA, UAP, UPA, pua

'Are'are

Noun

pau

1. head

References

• Kateřina Naitoro, A Sketch Grammar of 'Are'are: The Sound System and Morpho-Syntax (2013)

Catalan

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic, Valencia) [ˈpaw]
• Rhymes: -aw

Etymology 1

Inherited from Old Catalan pau, from Latin pācem, from Proto-Indo-European *peh₂ǵ-. Compare Occitan patz, French paix, Spanish paz.

Noun

pau f (plural paus)

1. peace

Derived terms

• fer les paus (“to end a quarrel”)

Related terms

• pacífic
• pacificar
• pagar

Etymology 2

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

Noun

pau m (plural paus)

1. spotted dragonet (a fish of the species Callionymus maculatus)

   Synonyms: aferrapedres m, aferra-roques m

Etymology 3

Uncertain. Sometimes ascribed to Paul, but also as a phonetic reduction of *paup, alternating form of palp (“the act of feeling”).

Adjective

pau (feminine pava, masculine plural paus, feminine plural paves)

1. credulous; gullable; rustic

Noun

pau m (plural paus)

1. fool; rube

References

• “pau” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “pau”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2024
• “pau” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “pau” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Galician

Etymology

From Old Galician-Portuguese pao, from Latin pālus (“stake”), from Proto-Italic *pākslos, from Proto-Indo-European *peh₂ǵ-slos, from *peh₂ǵ- (“attach”). Compare Portuguese pau and Spanish palo.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpaw/ [ˈpɑw]
• Rhymes: -aw

Noun

pau m (plural paus)

1. stick

   Synonym: vara

   • 1370, R. Lorenzo, editor, Crónica troiana, A Coruña: Fundación Barrié, page 605:

     [Et] poserõ perlos muros beesteyros et arque[yro]s muytos et outros, pera deytar quantos et paos agudos metudos en ferros, en guisa que os que se quisesem chegar ao muro nõ podesem escapar de morte

     And they arranged many crossbowmen and bowmen on the walls, to throw stones and sharp sticks inserted in irons, so as the ones who wanted to came near the wall could not escape the death

2. (uncountable) wood (material)

   Synonyms: fuste, madeira

   • 1457, F. R. Tato Plaza, editor, Libro de notas de Álvaro Pérez, notario da Terra de Rianxo e Postmarcos. Santiago: Concello da Cultura Galega (Ponencia de Lingua), page 171:

     Tres ballestas: J de aseyro, IJ de pao

     Three crossbows: one of steel, two of wood

   • 1700, Domingo Blanco, editor, A Poesía popular en Galicia, Vigo: Serais, page 124:

     Santo San Bras de Viana feito de pau de amieiro

     Saint Saint [sic] Blaise of Viana, carved in alder wood

3. blow

   Synonyms: golpe, pancada

Derived terms

• pau de cego

References

• Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, Ana Isabel Boullón Agrelo (2006–2022) “pao”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Xavier Varela Barreiro, Xavier Gómez Guinovart (2006–2018) “pao”, in Corpus Xelmírez - Corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: ILG
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, editor (2006–2013), “pau”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega [Dictionary of Dictionaries of the Galician language] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, editors (2003–2018), “pau”, in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Rosario Álvarez Blanco, editor (2014–2024), “pau”, in Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega, →ISSN

Hawaiian

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpau̯/, [ˈpɐw], [ˈpɔw] (rapid speech)

Verb

pau

1. (stative) finished, done
2. (stative) destroyed
3. (idiomatic) all

   E aloha i nā hoa a pau.

   Greet all the friends.

Hawaiian Creole

Etymology

From Hawaiian pau (“finished”).

Verb

pau

1. done, finished

   You pau awready?

   Are you done already?

Limos Kalinga

Noun

pau

1. mango

Portuguese

Alternative forms

• páo (obsolete)

Etymology

Inherited from Old Galician-Portuguese pao, from Latin pālus (“stake”), from Proto-Italic *pākslos, from Proto-Indo-European *peh₂ǵ-slos, from *peh₂ǵ-. Compare Galician pau, Asturian palu, and Spanish palo.

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈpaw/ [ˈpaʊ̯]

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈpaw/

• Rhymes: -aw
• Hyphenation: pau

• Audio (São Paulo):

  (file)

Noun

pau m (plural paus)

1. stick
2. wood
3. (figuratively, slang, vulgar) penis, dick, cock, prick

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:pénis

4. singular of paus (“clubs”) (one of the four suits of playing cards)
5. (slang) a unit of currency

   Isso custou uns 500 paus. ― That cost about 500 bucks.

Derived terms

• bicho-pau
• inseto-pau
• pau para toda obra
• pau-a-pique
• pau-brasil
• pau-de-arara
• pau-preto
• paulada

 

Related terms

• empalar
• paliçada
• palito

 

Descendants

• Guinea-Bissau Creole: po
• Kabuverdianu: pó
• → Swahili: pao, pau

Swahili

Pronunciation

• Audio (Kenya):

  (file)

Noun

pau (n class, plural pau)

1. Alternative form of pao

Welsh

Etymology

From Latin pāgus (“district, province”).

Pronunciation

• (North Wales) IPA^(key): /paɨ̯/
• (South Wales) IPA^(key): /pai̯/

Noun

pau f (plural peuoedd)

1. (archaic) land, nation

Synonyms

• gwlad

Mutation

Welsh mutation
radical	soft	nasal	aspirate
pau	bau	mhau	phau
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

West Frisian

Etymology

From Latin pāvō (“peacock”).

Noun

pau c (plural pauwen, diminutive pauke)

1. peacock

Further reading

• “pau (I)”, in Wurdboek fan de Fryske taal (in Dutch), 2011