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Idioms

Phrases

Proverbs

Loan words

Historical loan words

patupaiarehe

1. (noun) fairy folk - fair-skinned mythical people who live in the bush on mountains. Although like humans in appearance, the belief is that they do not eat cooked food and are afraid of fires.

He mano te patupaiarehe kei te tarakihi; ko te āhua he āhua tangata, pēnei me te āhua Pākehā, ko te kiri i mā, i kōrakorako te māhunga me te kiri katoa, i rerekē kīhai i rite ki te tangata Māori (KO 20/11/1886:7). / The patupaiarehe are numerous like cicadas; their appearance is the same as humans, like the Pākehā the skin is white and the hair and all the skin is fair, not like the Māori people.

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See also tūrehu, tahurangi, heketoro

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