Gathering place

A gathering place is any place where people are able to congregate. Gathering places may be public; for example, city streets, town squares, and parks; or private; for example, churches, coffee shops, stadiums, and theaters.

Examples of gathering places include Stonehenge, the agora of ancient Greece, New York City's Central Park, and London's Trafalgar Square.

Island of Oʻahu as The Gathering Place

The Island of Oʻahu in Hawaii is often nicknamed (or translated as) "The Gathering Place". This makes sense because Oʻahu is the most populated Hawaiian Island. In ancient times, however, Oʻahu was not populous and was outranked by the status of other islands. The translation of "gathering place" was suggested as recently as 1922 by Hawaiian Almanac author Thomas Thrum. It has been speculated that Thrum ignored or misplaced the ʻokina because the Hawaiian phrase "ʻo ahu" could be translated as "gathering of objects" (ʻo is a subject marker and ahu means "to gather"). The correct spelling — Oʻahu — has no confirmed translation.