mea
1. (verb) (meinga,meingatia,meatingia,-tia) to say, speak, do, deal with, think, intend, make, use.
Ka mea te iwi ki a Tā Hōri Kerei, kia haere ki te whakamahau o te whare o Te Mānihera kia harirū rātou (TW 20/4/1878:180). / The people asked Sir George Grey to go to the verandah of Mr Maunsell's house so that they could shake hands.
Ka hangā he tāone ki te kūititanga meinga ana te ingoa ko Panama (TWMNT 27/8/1873:102). / A town was built at the isthmus and it is called Panama.
See also meinga, meingatia, meatingia
Synonyms: kōrero, waihanga, whakahangahanga, whaihanga, mahi, hanga, āhua, pepeha, hamumu, wani, whakahua, kīkī, puaki, kī, hangahanga
2. (noun) thing, object, property, one, reason, thingumajig, thingy, thingummy, whatcha-me-call-it, what-d'you-call-it, the one, that thing, whatsit - a word used to replace the name of something, often when a speaker has momentarily forgotten the correct word. It may function as a personal name, a location word, a noun or a verb (see other sub entries).
3. (personal name) thingumabob, thingamy, what's-his-name, so-and-so - a word used when one has forgotten, or does not know, the person's name.
I kōrero au ki a Mea - Ko wai tōna ingoa? / I talked to Thingumebob - what's her name?
4. (location) such-and-such a place - a word used for a place when one has forgotten the name.
I tae rātou ki Mea - kua wareware te ingoa i a au. / They arrived at such and such a place - I've forgotten the name.
5. (particle) soon (to denote a lapse of time).
6. (particle) Used with he and a verb as an alternative passive for past time.
(Te Māhuri Textbook (Ed. 2): 42;)
He mea tūraki te whare e te taraka. / The house was demolished by the truck.
7. such-and-such, so-and-so, somewhere, at some time - used before a noun, location, people or time to generalise or avoid saying a specific name.
Paku noa iho te kī atu ki konei tātou, e kare mā, ā mea wā ki mea wāhi, e kare mā, me noho tahi tātou, e kare mā (HM 4/1996:1). / We speak just briefly here, my friends, but at some time in the future and somewhere we will sit together.
He aha i whiriwhiria ai ko mea mā hai haere ki te Kura Āpiha i Trentham (HP 1991:117). / Why were he and the others selected to go to the Officers School at Trentham.
Koinei te pai o ēnei wānanga, ka haramai a mea tohunga me ōna mātauranga, a mea tohunga me ōna, hei āta whakaaroaro, hei āta tuitui haere mā te hunga whakarongo (HJ 2012:180). / This is the good thing about these seminars, each expert comes with her knowledge for the audience to mull over and blend together.
Mea
1. (loan) (personal name) Mair.
E hoa, tēnei anō tētehi take, ko tētehi Pākehā he āpiha takiwā, ko tōna ingoa ko Tawa, e noho nei i te rohe o Te Arawa, koia te tino tangata kino, i tino tau ai te kino ki a Te Arawa, ā tōna ingoa Pākehā ko Te Mea (TW 22/6/1878:8/316) / Friend, this is a concern, that there is a Pākehā, a District Officer called Tawa, living in the district of Te Arawa, who is a very evil man who treats Te Arawa badly and his English name is Mair.
mea
1. (loan) (noun) mayor.
Kua tū anō a Rāpata Tuati hei mea mō Nēpia (TW 24/11/1877:459). / Robert Stuart is again mayor of Napier.
Synonyms: koromatua
mea kōnatunatu
1. (noun) mince, fritter - anything minced up and cooked. Mea can be replaced by the name of the food being minced.
Ko tētahi tino tohutaka mō te tunu pāua ko te pāua kōnatunatu te riki me te kirīmi (Te Ara 2012). / A favourite recipe for cooking pāua is minced pāua with onion and cream.
Synonyms: mīti nakunaku, mīti kōnatunatu, kōnatunatu
parawhenua mea
1. (noun) flood, tsunami - a destructive wave caused by an earthquake.
Kei ngā kōrero tuku iho a te Māori ngā kōrero mō te rū me te parawhenua mea (Te Ara 2012). / Māori oral traditions refer to earthquakes and tsunamis.
See also tai āniwhaniwha, parawhenua
mea ake
1. later, soon, eventually - denotes a short lapse of time before something happens. Sometimes written as meāke.
Mea ake nei kua huri kē te ara o ngā mahi a Ngata ki te Pakanga Tuatahi me ngā hua i puta i te mutunga o taua parekura (TTR 1996:106). / Soon Ngata was diverted by the First World War and the aftermath of that war.
See also meāke
Synonyms: hai kō ake nei, i muri, i muri mai, ka taka te wā ..., meāke, taihoa ake, muringa, nō muri, auina ake, taihoa, tāria te wā, ā muri ake nei, auina iho
nō te mea
1. because, from the fact that.
Ka ngangautia e ia kia ngāwari, kia pakupaku, ka āta whakapiritia ki te mamae, hāware katoa atu nō te mea he pai tonu hoki te hāware mō te whakaora (HP 1991:23). / She chewed it until it was soft and small and carefully applied it to the sore part. It had saliva throughout because saliva is quite good for healing.
tā te mea
1. because, from the fact that - a conjunction that is sometimes written as one word, i.e. tātemea.
Ka mōhio ahau ki te kaha o te mate, tā te mea, e nohoia ana e ngā Māori ngā wāhi e tata ana ki ngā repo, ki ngā parenga awa (KO 15/4/1884:6). / I know how sick they are because Māori are living in places near swamps and river banks.
te mea ai
1. after all, because, the reason for this, especially because.
Kore rawa au i hiahia kia mate tētahi o ngā taitama nei, te mea ai hoki he mea hanga rātau nā Te Atua, pēnei anō i a au (HP 1991:145). / I would never want one of these youths to die, because they were created by God, just like me.
i te mea
1. when, because.
I te mea ka tae mai te ahi ki reira, kātahi te tangata nei ka rere ki roto i te taika wai rāua ko tētahi atu tangata, ka whakamākūtia hoki he paraikete mō rāua (TPH 10/1/1906). / When the fire reached that place then this man and another one fled into the tank of water and they doused blankets with water.
nā te mea
1. because, from the fact that.
I whakahē a Āpirana Ngata i te rironga o te whakahaere o te hokowhitu Māori i a Awatere, nā te mea hoki he tangata kakī mārō rite tonu ki ōna tīpuna (TTR 2000:10). / Āpirana Ngata had opposed Awatere's taking command of the Māori Battalion because he had a of a stubborn streak like his ancestors.
mea rawa ake
1. very soon, next minute.
Mea rawa ake ka mau a Hotupuku ki roto i tētahi tāwhiti i rangaa i te rau o te tī (Te Ara 2013). / Very soon Hotupuku was caught in a noose woven from cabbage tree leaves.
Nā te koremahi kua puta ki waho i te rohe kimi mahi ai, ā, mea rawa ake kua noho kē i wāhi kē, moe kē i iwi kē, me te aha anō ngaro ana te reo i ngā tamariki nā te warea ki te reo Hōrana. / Because of unemployment they have migrated to seek work, and very soon they have settled elsewhere and married other people, and what's more the language is lost by the children because they're busy speaking Dutch.
2. are [you] suggesting? is [she] suggesting? you reckon that, of course it goes without saying - a colloquialism.
3. who do you think!, what do you think! - to indicate that the questioner should know the answer to the question.
Kua kuhu mai te tamaiti i te whare, he kiore kei tana ringa, kua mate, kua kino katoa te āhua. Ka pātai ki tana pāpā: Me aha e au te mea nei? Pāpā: Hā! E mea ana koe! Haria ki waho! Kaua e meahia mai ki roto nei (HJ 2012:40). / The child has entered the house and has a dead, horrible looking rat in his hand. He asks his father: What should I do with this thing? Father: Huh! What do you think! Take it outside! Don't bring it in here.
ka mea, (ā), ka ...
1. after quite a long time, eventually, when finally - an idiomatic use to indicate a passage of time before something happened.
Ka noho, ka noho, kua ānini te māhunga kua waea atu ki te rata kararehe. Ka mea, ā, ka oti i a māua tā māua mahi (HM 1/1998:4). / After quite a while our heads were spinning and we phoned a vet. Eventually we completed our task.
Ka whakakāhoretia e te wahine nei tēnei whakapae. Ka mea, ā, ka hiahia ki te whakaatu i tōna hara, ka tū ake i waenganui i te iwi, ka waiata i te waiata nei (M 2011:66). / This woman denied the accusation. When she finally wanted to confess to her sin, she stood up amongst the people and sang this song.
ki te mea ka ...
1. (particle) in the event of, if - variation of the shorter ki te ..., the usual form in modern Māori.
(Te Pihinga Textbook (Ed. 2): 67;)
He hunga riri rātou ki te mea ka whakaparahakotia ā rātou tikanga mākutu. / They are an angry group if their witchcraft practices are belittled.
