pahu

noun

pa·​hu ˈpä-ˌhü 

: a sacred Polynesian drum having a slightly tapered wooden body with a carved openwork base and a sharkskin head stretched by ropes that is played with the hands

The Hawaiian pahu (sharkskin drum) is both the oldest instrument on the islands and a symbol of the ancient links to Polynesia.

—Simon Broughton and Mark Ellingham, World Music, 2000

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from Hawaiian, Tahitian, or Marquesan pahu "drum," going back to Central-Eastern Polynesian *pasu

First Known Use

1829, in the meaning defined above

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