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Idioms

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Loan words

Historical loan words

atua

1. (noun) ancestor with continuing influence, god, demon, supernatural being, deity, ghost, object of superstitious regard, strange being - although often translated as 'god' and now also used for the Christian God, this is a misconception of the real meaning. Many Māori trace their ancestry from atua in their whakapapa and they are regarded as ancestors with influence over particular domains. These atua also were a way of rationalising and perceiving the world. Normally invisible, atua may have visible representations.

Ko te atua o te pakanga, ko Tū-mata-uenga. He maha ōna ingoa: Tū-kā-riri, Tū-te-ngaehe, Tū-mata-uenga, Tū-tawake, Tū-whakamoana-ariki, Tū-kai-taua, Tū-kai-tangata (M 2006:122). / The atua of war, Tū-mata-uenga. He has several names: Tū-kā-riri (Tū-the angry-one), Tū-te-ngaehe (Tū-who-tears-apart), Tū-mata-uenga (Tū-who-incites), Tū-tawake (Tū-who-hastens), Tū-whakamoana-ariki (Tū-who-enriches-the-sea), Tū-kai-taua (Tū-who-destroys-war-parties), Tū-kai-tangata (Tū-who-destroys-mankind) (M 2006:123).

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2. (noun) God.

E tino maumahara ana au ki taua pō e inoi ana tō mātau koroua ki Te Atua kia tohungia mātau (HP 1991:14). / I well remember that night when our grandfather was praying to God that we be spared.

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Atua

1. (noun) moon on the thirteenth night (sometimes fifteenth night) of the lunar month.

waiū atua

1. (noun) shore spurge, Euphorbia glauca - a native groundcover plant with milky sap. Generally forms clumps but has a creeping rhizome from which red stems bear narrow oblong blue-green leaves.

See also waiū o Kahukura


2. (noun) New Zealand gloxinia, Rhabdothamnus solandri - a small tangled native shrub with hairy leaves with rounded teeth and dark main veins. Found in shady lowland areas of the North Island. The bell-like flowers are yellow to orange with red stripes and occur throughout the year.

See also taurepo

atua whiowhio

1. (noun) railway train, steam engine, locomotive, train.

Nā ka kite anō iho aku kanohi i muri i a au e makenu ana te pāwhatitanga o te huarahi o te atua whiowhio haere o te Pākehā (Redemption Songs 1995:277). / My eyes will see after you traces of the broken branches on the pathway of the travelling railway train of the Pākehā.

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2. (noun) whistling atua.

Ko ngā whakamārama a te Pākehā mō ngā atua whiowhio, mō ngā atua kōrero o te Māori, ko te mahi a te Pākehā e huri nei, e panga nei i te reo, arā he 'ventriloquism' (TKO 12/5/1918:8). / The Pākehā explanation for the 'atua whiowhio', the speaking atua of the Māori, is the practice of the Pākehā to transform, to throw one's voice, which is called ventriloquism.

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tūtae atua

1. (noun) puffball, Lycoperdon perlatum - ball-shaped fungi which, though solid when young, are full of dust-like spores when mature. Found mostly in pastures and along the edge of native bush in summer and autumn.

See also tūtae

mana atua

1. (noun) sacred spiritual power from the atua.

ira atua

1. (noun) supernatural life, atua genes.

He ira atua anake rātou me ā rātou wāhine, he ira atua katoa, me ā rātou mokopuna; he tipua katoa. / They are only supernatural beings as are their women and all their descendants; they are all strange beings.

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Atua Whakahaehae

1. (personal noun) moon on the twenty-ninth night of the lunar month for Te Whānau-ā-Apanui - not a good day for planting or fishing.

Atua Whakahaehae: Anō, he rā kore kai tēnei (WT 2013:71). / Atua Whakahaehae: Again, this is an unproductive day.

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2. (noun) moon thirty days after the full moon.

Kua wātea atu ngā mahi tumatuma, tūātea a ngā kaitiaki o te maramataka mai i Ariroa ki te Atua Whakahaehae (WT 2013:71). / The quarrelsome and blustery activities of the sentinels of the maramataka from Ariroa to Atua Whakahaehae have finished.

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pua atua

1. (noun) spore.

Kawea ai ngā pua atua o te rarauwhe i runga i te hau (RP 2009:331). / The spores of bracken fern are carried on the wind.

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atua kiato

1. (noun) god sticks.

Ko te atua kiato he rākau whakairo ka titia ki te one (Te Ara 2015). / Atua kiato were carved wooden pegs, which were inserted into the ground.

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whare pua atua

1. (noun) sporangium - a receptacle in which asexual spores are formed in ferns and lower plants.

Mauka-atua

1. (location) Ben Ohau Range (between lakes Ōhau and Pūkakī). Also Maungatua Mountain (Otago).

awa o te atua

1. (noun) menstrual cycle.

Whare-kai-atua, Te

1. (location) Cape Colville (northern point of the Coromandel Peninsula).

Tāne-mahuta

1. (personal name) atua of the forests and birds and one of the children of Rangi-nui and Papa-tū-ā-nuku.

Ko te māoritanga o ngā ingoa o ēnei tamariki a Rangi rāua ko Papa: Ko Tangaroa, he ika; ko Rongo-mā-tāne, ko te kūmara; ko Haumia-tiketike, ko te aruhe; ko Tāne-mahuta, ko te rākau, ko te manu; ko Tāwhiri-mātea, ko te hau; ko Tū-matau-enga, ko te tangata (KO 16/9/1886:6). / The explanation of the names of these children of Rangi and Papa is: Tangaroa is fish; Rongo-mā-tāne is kūmara; Haumia-tiketike is fernroot; Tāne-mahuta is trees and birds; Tāwhiri-mātea is wind; Tū-matau-enga is humans.

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See also atua

Tangaroa

1. (personal name) atua of the sea and fish, he was one of the offspring of Rangi-nui and Papa-tū-ā-nuku and fled to the sea when his parents were separated. Sometimes known as Tangaroa-whaiariki.

(Te Māhuri Study Guide (Ed. 1): 40-42;)

Ko te māoritanga o ngā ingoa o ēnei tamariki a Rangi rāua ko Papa: Ko Tangaroa, he ika; ko Rongo-mā-tāne, ko te kūmara; ko Haumia-tiketike, ko te aruhe; ko Tāne-mahuta, ko te rākau, ko te manu; ko Tāwhiri-mātea, ko te hau; ko Tū-mata-uenga, ko te tangata (KO 16/9/1886:6). / The explanation of the names of these children of Rangi and Papa is: Tangaroa is fish; Rongo-mā-tāne is kūmara; Haumia-tiketike is fernroot; Tāne-mahuta is trees and birds; Tāwhiri-mātea is wind; Tū-mata-uenga is humans.

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See also atua


2. (noun) general name for the seven nights of the lunar month from the eighth to the fourteenth nights after the full moon - these are generally good days for planting fishing and eeling.

Ko te kōrero whakamutunga anō mō te tino āhua o ngā Tangaroa nei, tae noa ki te Ōmutu, ko tēnei te wā mōmona o te maramataka, e whitu rā te roa (WT 2013:32). / The final statement about the real nature of these Tangaroa nights, right until Ōmutu (the fourteenth night after the full moon), is that this is the productive time of the lunar calendar, and it is seven days long.

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Tāwhiri-mātea

1. (personal name) atua of the winds, clouds, rain, hail, snow and storms, he was also known as Tāwhiri-rangi and Tāwhiri-mate-a-Rangi and was one of the offspring of Rangi-nui and Papa-tū-ā-nuku who did not want his parents separated.

(Te Māhuri Study Guide (Ed. 1): 40-42;)

Ko te māoritanga o ngā ingoa o ēnei tamariki a Rangi rāua ko Papa: Ko Tangaroa, he ika; ko Rongo-mā-tāne, ko te kūmara; ko Haumia-tiketike, ko te aruhe; ko Tāne-mahuta, ko te rākau, ko te manu; ko Tāwhiri-mātea, ko te hau; ko Tū-mata-uenga, ko te tangata (KO 16/9/1886:6). / The explanation of the names of these children of Rangi and Papa is: Tangaroa is fish; Rongo-mā-tāne is kūmara; Haumia-tiketike is fernroot; Tāne-mahuta is trees and birds; Tāwhiri-mātea is wind; Tū-mata-uenga is humans.

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See also atua, Tāwhiri-rangi

Rongo-mā-Tāne

1. (personal name) atua of the kūmara and cultivated food and one of the offspring of Rangi-nui and Papa-tū-ā-nuku, he is also known as Rongo-hīrea and Rongo-marae-roa-a-Rangi.

(Te Māhuri Study Guide (Ed. 1): 40-42;)

Ko te māoritanga o ngā ingoa o ēnei tamariki a Rangi rāua ko Papa: Ko Tangaroa, he ika; ko Rongo-mā-tāne, ko te kūmara; ko Haumia-tiketike, ko te aruhe; ko Tāne-mahuta, ko te rākau, ko te manu; ko Tāwhiri-mātea, ko te hau; ko Tū-mata-uenga, ko te tangata (KO 16/9/1886:6). / The explanation of the names of these children of Rangi and Papa is: Tangaroa is fish; Rongo-mā-tāne is kūmara; Haumia-tiketike is fernroot; Tāne-mahuta is trees and birds; Tāwhiri-mātea is wind; Tū-mata-uenga is humans.

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See also atua, Rongo-marae-roa

Tāwhiri-rangi

1. (personal name) atua of the winds, clouds, rain, hail, snow and storms - another name for Tāwhiri-mātea.

ariā

1. (noun) likeness, resemblance, notion, idea, concept, theory, feeling, theme - sometimes pronounced āria.

(Te Kōhure Textbook (Ed. 2): 225;)

E rua ngā whakamāramatanga o tēnei kupu: Tuatahi, ko te ariā ko te āhua tērā, ko te ritenga rānei ki tētahi mea, ahakoa he aha taua mea, he ritenga te ariā nō taua mea rā. Tuarua, ko tētahi atu whakamāramatanga ko te whakatinanatanga tēnei o tētahi atua, he rākau pea, he kōhatu pea, he kararehe pea, he manu, he aha kē atu rānei o ngā mea e kitea ana e te kanohi o te tangata (Wh4 2004:225). / There are two explanations of this word: Firstly, the 'ariā' is a form or the likeness of something, regardless of what that is, the 'ariā' is a representation of that thing. Secondly, another explanations is that this is the physical representation of an atua, perhaps a stick, a stone, an animal, a bird or something else that can be seen by the human eye.
Ka tukuna mai e ia ana karere ki te tango i te ariā o Māui, arā i tētahi wāhi o ōna toto, hei mākutu māna M 2006:206). / She sent her messengers to take away the ariā of Māui, that is, some of his blood, for her to perform mākutu on.

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Synonyms: taurite, ritenga, oho, āhua, āhuatanga, rite, whakaritenga


2. (noun) genie.


3. (noun) physical representation of an atua, visible material emblem of an atua.

He atua a Moekahu, he kurī tōna ariā (W 1971:15). / Moekahu is an atua and his physical representation is a dog.

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