Hula entered English in the early 19th century, first attested in 1823, borrowed from Hawaiian. The word refers to the traditional dance form central to Hawaiian culture, characterized by flowing movements of the hands and hips that narrate stories, honor deities, and preserve oral history. The Hawaiian word hula predates European contact with the islands and belongs to the Polynesian branch of the Austronesian language family.
The deeper etymology of hula within the Polynesian languages remains uncertain. A possible Proto-Polynesian ancestor *fula, meaning to dance, has been tentatively reconstructed based on comparative evidence from related Polynesian languages, dated roughly to around 1000 BCE. However, the reconstruction lacks the density of cognate evidence that would make it secure. The Austronesian language family, to which Hawaiian belongs, extends from Madagascar to Easter Island, and dance terminology within this family is often specific to individual island groups rather than widely
In Hawaiian tradition, hula is not merely a dance but a sacred practice intertwined with religion, storytelling, and the transmission of genealogical and historical knowledge. Before the arrival of Europeans, hula was performed in connection with religious ceremonies honoring the gods, particularly Laka, the patron deity of hula. Chants (oli) and songs (mele) accompanied the dance, and the movements themselves served as a physical script, encoding narratives that complemented the verbal text. The halau hula, or hula school, was the institution through which this knowledge was transmitted
The history of hula in the post-contact era is marked by suppression and revival. Protestant missionaries who arrived in Hawaii in the 1820s viewed hula as pagan and morally objectionable. In 1830, Queen Kaahumanu, who had converted to Christianity, issued a ban on public hula performances. The dance continued in private but lost its institutional support and public visibility for decades.
The revival came under King David Kalakaua, who reigned from 1874 to 1891. Kalakaua actively promoted Hawaiian cultural traditions, including hula, as part of a broader effort to reassert Hawaiian identity against increasing American and European influence. His court became a center for hula performance, and he encouraged the documentation and preservation of traditional chants and dances. Kalakaua earned the nickname the Merrie Monarch for his championing of Hawaiian arts. The annual
Two main categories of hula are recognized today. Hula kahiko refers to the older, pre-contact style, performed to chanting and traditional percussion instruments such as the ipu (gourd drum) and pahu (sharkskin drum). Hula auana is the modern style that developed in the 19th and 20th centuries, performed to Western-influenced melodies with instruments such as the ukulele and steel guitar.
In English, hula is most widely encountered in the compound hula hoop, a toy consisting of a large ring spun around the body, named in 1958 by the Wham-O toy company. The connection between the toy and the dance is purely the visual similarity of the hip-swiveling motion. The commercial success of the hula hoop ironically gave the word hula broader recognition in English than the dance itself had achieved, though this recognition carried a trivialized version of the original meaning.