mailen.
/ˈmɑːiːˌleɪ/, U.S. /ˈˌmɑiˈˌleɪ/ A Hawaiian climbing shrub, Alyxia oliviformis (family Apocynaceae), which has yellowish flowers and fragrant, glossy leaves that are used locally to make garlands and for decoration.
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1825 W. Ellis Jrnl. Tour Hawaii 42 Six women..crowned with garland of flowers, having also wreaths of flowers, and branches of the fragrant maire, (a native plant) bound round their ancles, now made their way by couples through the cloud.
1888 W. Hillebrand Flora Hawaiian Islands 299 The fragrant and glossy branches of the ‘Maile’ are in great favor with the natives for decorating their houses and ‘lanais’ on festive occasions.
1926 E. D. Biggers House without Key vi. 70 Miss Minerva was sitting on a grass mat in a fragrant garden in the Hawaiian quarter of Honolulu... Her neck was garlanded with ropes of buff ginger-blossoms twined with maile.
1948 M. C. Neal In Gardens of Hawaii 608 Maile grows as a straggling or twining shrub in native forests of the lower and middle mountain regions.
1991 Hawaii June 19/2 The leathery green leaves of the maile vine are often, but not always, worn by men.
This is a new entry (OED Third Edition, June 2000; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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