menehunen.
/mɛnəˈhuːni/, U.S. /ˌmɛnəˈhuni/ In Hawaii: a member of a mythical race of small people supposed in ancient times to have been capable of great feats of construction, and to have built fish ponds, roads, temples, etc., overnight; also in extended use.In quot. 1990: a junior surfer.
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the world > the supernatural > supernatural being > mythical creature or object > [noun] > fabulous or mythical human > miscellaneous (types of)
walkyrieeOE
woodwosea1100
mugglingc1275
Sciapodes1568
Arimasp1579
acephali1600
hyperborean1601
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golem1732
Lorelei1878
menehune1895
1895 Overland Monthly June 568/2 This early period is distinctly the age of the Menehunes, or skillful workers.
1928 J. C. Andersen Myths & Legends Polynesians v. 136 The Menehune of Hawaii are the equivalent of the Patu-pai-arehe of the Maori. It was the Menehune who assisted Laka in building his canoe, as it was the Hakuturi who assisted Rata.
1951 Amer. Speech 26 20 Terms drawn from Hawaiian anthropology and folklore include..menehune (a legendary tribe of dwarfs, who could perform great engineering feats in a single night; the idea may be based on the earliest race of Polynesians who occupied Hawaii between a.d. 400 and a.d. 500 and were subjugated when the ‘alii’ arrived some seven hundred years later).
1982 N.Y. Times (Nexis) 19 Dec. x. 10/1 In the opposite direction from Lihue are fish ponds said to have been the abode of the menehune, the Hawaiian leprechauns.
1990 Surfer Aug. 129 From making after-contest sandwiches for her nine-year-old menehune, to booking international flights for her Top 16 young man, Mrs. Holland has actively..promoted Todd's surfing career.
This is a new entry (OED Third Edition, September 2001; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1895