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Idioms

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Proverbs

Loan words

Historical loan words

Filters

Idioms

Phrases

Proverbs

Loan words

Historical loan words

pepe ao uri

1. (noun) common blue butterfly, Zizina labradus labradus - common in gardens and farmland in the North Island and north and west of the South Island.

pepe mā

1. (noun) white butterfly,cabbage white, Pieris rapae - introduced from Europe and North America about 1930 and found throughout the country. Caterpillars eat cabbage, turnip, cauliflower and nasturtium.

kahuku

1. (noun) monarch butterfly, Danaus plexippus - Aotearoa/New Zealand's largest butterfly. Spends two weeks as a caterpillar, two weeks as a chrysalis and two months as a butterfly.

pūrerehua

1. (noun) butterfly, moth.

(Te Māhuri Textbook (Ed. 2): 170;)

Ko te hīhue, he pūrerehua, he mea rere i te pō, engari ko tōna kāinga tuatahi kai te whenua, ka puta ake ka noho ki runga ki ngā puāwai hue (W 1971:49). / The hawk moth is a moth that flies at night, but its first home is in the ground and when it emerges it lives on the gourd flowers.

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See also whēorooro, pūrorohū


2. (noun) bullroarer - a traditional Māori musical instrument made of wood, stone or bone attached to a long string.

Tērā tētahi taonga pūoro a te Māori he rangorango tōna ingoa nātemea he rite te tangi ki te rangorango. Ko tētahi atu ingoa mō taua taonga pūoro he pūrerehua (TWK 41:24). / There is another musical instrument of the Māori called a 'rangorango' because it sounds like a blowfly. Another name for that musical instrument is 'pūrerehua'.

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pēpepe

1. (noun) butterfly, moth.

Ko ētahi o te aitanga pepeke ko te waeroa, te pūrerehua, te pēpepe, te pūngāwerewere, te namu (Te Ara 2012). / Some of the creatures of the insect world are mosquitoes, butterflies and moths, spiders and sandflies.

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2. (noun) pēpepe, Machaerina sinclairii - a sedge found throughout most of the North Island, often on damp cliffs and road banks. It has long, slightly drooping bright green iris-like leaves. The flowering stems are rigid with drooping, fine, rusty red flowers.

See also tūhara

Synonyms: tūhara, toetoe tūhara

oia

1. (noun) butterfly perch, Caesioperca lepidoptera - a fish with a compressed, ovoid body and a continuous dorsal fin without a notch between the spinous and soft portions. Brownish-red to orange-red above, whitish-tan ventrally and a conspiuous dark blotch on each flank near the pectoral fin tips. Numerous  small dark brown spots scattered over the body. Usually found in schools among and above rocky reefs at depths of 5-151 m.

pepe para riki

1. (noun) common copper butterfly, Lycaena salustius complex - common in mid-summer in warm, open places from sand dunes to tussock hillsides. Attracted to blackberry flowers. Flies fast and jerkily, 2-3m above the ground.

pepe

1. (noun) moth, butterfly.

Pēnā te mahi a te Poa me te ahi e kā ana ka rere ngā pepe ki roto (TJ 21/12/1899:6). / What the Boers' did was like a burning fire that moths fly into.

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kahukura

1. (stative) be multicoloured.


2. (noun) rainbow.

Ka tare i runga he haki, he kara, ko ngā āhua katoa o te kahukura e tāwhana nei i runga (TP 1/2/1901:13). / Hanging on it was a flag with all the colours of the rainbow forming an arch on it.

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3. (noun) red admiral butterfly, Vanessa gonerilla - caterpillars eat nettle leaves.

(Te Māhuri Study Guide (Ed. 1): 7;)


4. (noun) cloak coloured with red ochre.

kau aihe

1. (noun) butterfly stroke (swimming).

kahukōwhai

1. (noun) yellow admiral butterfly, Vanessa itea - caterpillars eat nettle leaves.

pepe para hua

1. (noun) Australian painted lady, Vanessa kershawi - a butterfly that arrives from Australia most years in large numbers. Flies fast and close to the ground. the undersides of the wings look like tree bark. Caterpillars feed on plants of the daisy family.

manu

1. (noun) bird - any winged creature including bats, cicadas, butterflies, etc.

Ki te kore he kai, kua riro mā tētahi o ngā tohunga e karakia, kua rere mai he kai ki runga ki te waka. He ika, he manu me ētahi atu tūmomo kai mata (HP 1991:9). / If there was no food, one of the tohunga would say a ritual chant and food would fly onto the vessel - fish, birds and other types of raw food.

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2. (noun) kite.

Ka eke ki runga, ka whakahakahaka iho ngā manu rā, ka piki anō whakarunga ngā manu rā, aua tonu ake, ka tiu anō ki runga ki te pā (JPS 1905:76). / Those kites ascended to a height, and then descended, then climbed upwards again until they were a long way up, and swooped again over the pā.

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Synonyms: manu tū, pākau, manu aute, manu tukutuku, horewai


3. (noun) person held in high esteem - a figurative use usually qualified by an epithet, e.g. manukura (leader in council, leader).


4. (noun) family muttonbirding territory - each muttonbirding island is divided into a number of manu, with boundaries defined by geographic features, trees, etc.

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