Fornander:

"PI'I, v. Haw., to strike upon or extend, as the shadow on the ground or on a wall; to ascend, go up.

N. Zeal., piki, to ascend. Sam.: pi'i, to cling to to climb. Marqu., piki, to climb, ascend; piki-a, steps, acclivity. Tong., piki, to adhere to, to climb, ascend. Fiji., bici-bici, a peculiar kind of marking on native cloth.

Sanskr., pin'j, to dye or colour; pin'jara, yellow, tawny.

Lat., pingo, to paint, represent, embroider.

The marking out or tracing a shadow on the ground or on a wall was probably the primary attempt at painting. In the Hawaiian alone the sense of an ascent, compared to the lengthening of the shadows, has been retained. As the sun descended the shadows were thought to ascend or creep up the mountain-side.

The sense of 'marking, tracing', seems only to have been retained in the Fijian, where so much other archaic Polynesian lore has been retained, and thus brings this word in connection with the Sanskrit and Latin."