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hapa

English · Kiswahili

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hapa¹

  • /ˈhɑpə/ US
  • /ˈhæpə/ US

Where it comes from

Borrowed from Hawaiian hapa, from English half. Doublet of half.

noun hapas

  1. California, Hawaii A person of mixed ethnic heritage, especially half East or Southeast Asian or Pacific Islander and half White. It's what my fiancé and I call ourselves, and how we think of the children we might have: second-generation hapas. But as the term grows in popularity, so does debate over how it should be used. Some people argue that hapa is a slur and should be retired.

hapa²

noun hapas

  1. A mesh cage-like structure placed in the water to hold fish. Usually one female is placed into a hapa with two males to insure that fertilization occurs.

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Cite this
MLA

"hapa." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/hapa. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

hapa. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/hapa

Chicago

"hapa." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/hapa.

BibTeX
@misc{hapa_2026,
  title = {hapa},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/hapa},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}