1. Sour; salty: vai kava, saltwater, sea; te kava o te haíga, acrid underarm smell; tagata kava - tagata kakara i te kava, man with smelly armpits. 2. He-kava te haha, to be thirsty. 3. To turn sour, to become embittered, bad-tempered, exasperated (used with manava): tagata manava kava, bad-tempered, angry man.

Bitter, salt; vai kava, brackish water; hakakava, to embalm; kavakava, acid, sharp, bitter, salt, spiritous, vinegar, poisonous, disagreeable; akavakava, to make sharp; hakakavakava, to make acid. P Pau.: kava, disagreeable to the taste; kavakava, acid, sharp. Mgv.: kava, to be bitter, sour, acid, salt. Mq.: kava, bitter. Ta.: ava, bitter, acid, salt. Kavahia: 1. Comfort, comfortable, to feast; hakakavahia, comfort, comfortable. 2. Repulsive (of food), disgusted; hakakavahia, repulsion. Kavakava, rib; moi kavakava, a house god G. P Mgv.: vakavaka, the breast. Mq.: vakavaka, vaávaá, rib. Ma.: wakawaka, parallel ridges. We shall need all the available material in order to determine the germ sense of this word. Sa.: va'ava'a, the breast-bone of a bird; fa'ava'a, the frame as of a slate. To.: vakavaka, the side. Fu.: vakavaka, the side below the armpit. Ha.: hoowaa, to make furrows. In all these we may see the idea of ridge or depression, or of both, as primal (Rapanui, Samoa, Marquesas, Maori, Hawaii), and as secondary the part of the body where such appearances is common (Mangareva, Tonga, Futuna).

Mgv.: kava, the pepper plant and the drink made therefrom. Ta.: ava, id. Mq.: kava, id. Sa.: 'ava, id. Ma.: kawa, a pepper. Kavakava, a fish. Sa.: 'ava'ava, id. Kavapui, a tree. Ta.: avapuhi, a fragrant plant. Mq.: kavapui, wild ginger. Sa.: 'avapui, id. Ha.: awapuhi, id.

Mq.: ava, a small fish of sweet water. Sa.. 'ava'ava, a small fish. Ha.: awa, a fish. Kakava, burnt. Sa.: 'a'ava, very hot.

Considering the situation of 'the poor old calabash' (Jupiter), standing at the end of his path, with toga in front and the women waiting to embalm him - making kava (hakakava) - we can understand he has reason to be bitter (kava).

"Embalming is known and practised with surprising skill in one particular family of chiefs. Unlike the Egyptian method, as described by Herodotus, it is performed in Samoa exclusively by women. The viscera being removed and buried, they, day after day, anoint the body with a mixture of oil and aromatic juices. To let the fluids escape, they continue to puncture the body all over with fine needles.

In about two months, the process of desiccation is completed. The hair, which had been cut and laid aside at the commencement of the operation, is now glued carefully on to the scalp by a resin from the bush. The abdomen is filled up with folds of native cloth; the body is wrapped up with folds of the same material, and laid out on a mat, leaving the hands, face, and head exposed." (Turner and Stair according to Annette Bierbach and Horst Cain in their Religion and Language of Easter Island.)