Standard Lemma guide

hula

noun · verb · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˈhuːlə/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • General-American: ho͞oʹlə
  • General-American: /ˈhulə/
  • rhymes with -uːlə
  • CMU ARPABET: HH UW1 L AH0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A form of chant and dance, which was developed in the Hawaiian Islands by the Polynesians who originally settled there.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

verb

Meaning 2

To dance the hula.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: intransitive

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

a Polynesian rain dance performed by a woman

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: hula-hula, Hawaiian dancing

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: rain dance

History

Etymology

Borrowed from Hawaiian hula.

Across languages

Translations

12 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Arabic: هُولَا (hūlā) — Hawaiian chant and dance
  • Chinese Mandarin: 草裙舞 (cǎoqúnwǔ) — Hawaiian chant and dance
  • Chinese Mandarin: 呼拉圈舞 (hūlā quānwǔ) — Hawaiian chant and dance
  • Hawaiian: hula — Hawaiian chant and dance
  • Hindi: हुला (hulā) — Hawaiian chant and dance
  • Japanese: フラ (fura) — Hawaiian chant and dance
  • Korean: 훌라 (hulla) — Hawaiian chant and dance
  • Māori: hurahura — Hawaiian chant and dance
  • Marathi: हुला (hulā) — Hawaiian chant and dance
  • Russian: ху́ла (xúla) — Hawaiian chant and dance
  • Urdu: ہلا (hulā) — Hawaiian chant and dance
  • Welsh: hwla — Hawaiian chant and dance