pūwhenua
1. (verb) (-tia) to settle, live permanently.
I rongo a Te Whiti i te whatitiri, ā, tērā e rere ai te waipuke - he kupu whakarite mō te haerenga mai o te Pākehā e pūwhenua ana i Taranaki (TTR 1994:173). / Te Whiti heard the thunder and sensed that a flood was approaching - a metaphor about the coming of the Pākehā to settle in Taranaki.
2. (verb) to degenerate, decline.
Kua pūwhenua te tangata, arā kua heke, kua kore he rangatira o taua hapū (W 1971:319). / The people have degenerated, that is they have declined and there is no longer a leader of that subtribe.
3. (verb) to be stunted, dwarfish, undersized.
Kua pūwhenua te tipu o te otaota, kua kōkā (W 1971:319). / The growth of the vegetation is stunted and has matured.
4. (modifier) colonizing, settling.
I noho pai noa ia me te hunga pūwhenua o Pātea (TTR 1990:166). / He lived peacefully with the settlers of Pātea.
5. (modifier) degenerate, degraded, debased, corrupt, decadent.
I whakaihia mātau e te whanonga pūwhenua o ngā tutū (Ng 1993:87). / We were appalled by the degenerate behaviour of the hooligans (Ng 1993:87).
6. (noun) stay (of a mast), rigging.
Kātahi ka piki ngā hēramana ki runga ki ngā rewa, me ngā taura pūwhenua (TWMNT 9/2/1875:31). / Then the seamen climbed onto the masts, and the rigging.
2. (noun) basement.
