Aloha in all Polynesian languages and always with the same basic meaning of: love, compassion, sympathy and kindness although the use in Hawaii has a seriousness lacking in the Tahitian and Samoan meanings. Its beginnings may be seen in the Maori definition as "love of kin". Mary Kawena Pukui wrote that the "first expression" of "aloha" was between a parent and child. The word has become a part of the English vocabulary in an awkward misuse. The term is now part of English vocabulary. "The Oxford English Dictionary" defined the word as a "greeting" like "welcome" and "farewell" using a number
Thai greeting The "wai" is also common as a way to express gratitude or to apologise. The word often spoken with the "wai" as a greeting or farewell is "sawatdi" (RTGS for , , sometimes romanized as "sawasdee"). This verbal greeting is usually followed by "kha" when spoken by a female and by "khrap" when spoken by a male person (see note on Thai polite particles). The word "sawatdi" was coined in the mid-1930s by Phraya Upakit Silapasan of Chulalongkorn University. Derived from the Sanskrit "svasti" (स्वस्ति meaning 'well-being'), it had previously been used in Thai only as a formulaic opening to