Derived from Proto-Polynesian *felo (“yellow, tawny” – compare with Hawaiian helo, Tongan felo and felofelo) Sense of "yellow" displaced by kōwhai while evolving close to "red". Sense of “bright” is semantic evolution from “yellow” > “bright”. This also evolved into sense of gold from its shine; recorded as ferro by Vincent Pyke interviewing one Mr. Palmer informed by one "Tuawaiki" (or "Tuwaewae") in Otago. Similar parallels in the same Austronesian family can be seen in Tagalog between bulaw “reddish orange” and bulawan “gold”, and Malagasy volamena (from vola mena, lit. “red silver”).