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Historical loan words

koru

1. (noun) koru, colensoa, Colensoa physaloides - a shrubby plant found in shady areas and stream banks in Northland and on northern offshore islands. The attractive soft, dark green, large leaves are prominently veined and serrated. Deep blue, tubular flowers occur for several months from spring. The berries are also dark blue.

Synonyms: oru

koru

1. (noun) (intestine) coil.

koru

1. (verb) to be folded, looped, coiled.

E koru ana te taura kia kore ai e whīwhiwhi. / The rope is coiled up so that it won't become tangled.

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Synonyms: takaāmiomio


2. (modifier) folded, looped, coiled.

Ko te pai o te taura koru, kāore e whīwhiwhi ina whakahorohorotia atu (PK 2008:334). / The benefit of a coiled rope is that it won't tangle when it's paid out.

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3. (noun) fold, loop, coil, curled shoot.

Arā anō he aruhe i kainga e te Māori, tae atu ki ngā pihinga o te kōwaowao, te rereti, te mouku, te huruhuru whenua, te koru o te kiokio me te pikopiko (Te Ara 2011). / Māori ate other ground ferns, including the young fronds of hound’s tongue fern, rereti, hen and chickens fern and shining spleenwort. They ate the curled shoots of kiokio and common shield fern.

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Synonyms: kono, koropewapewa, koromeke, koropewa, pōkuru, tau


4. (noun) spiral motif (in kōwhaiwhai patterns and carving).

He nui ngā kōrero e mea ana, ko te koru e tohu ana i te tipu hou, inā tōna rite ki te pītau huruwhenua (RTA 2014:107). / There are numerous accounts that say the koru symbolises a new shoot, like the fern frond.

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korū

1. (noun) shaking.

Ka nui te korū o te whare nei i te hau (W 1971:147). / This house is being shaken a lot by the wind.

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Synonyms: wheoi, oinga, aroarowhaki, ngateri, ngāueue, wiriwiri, kōrūrū, ngatari, whakangāueue

oru

1. (verb) (-a) to be bogged down, boggy.

E oru ana te whenua (W 1971:242). / The ground is boggy.

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2. (verb) (-a) to be rough (of the sea).

Kua orua te moana (W 1971:242). / The sea is rough.

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Synonyms: whenewhene, pohepohe, karekare, , kōrawarawa


3. (modifier) boggy, miry, marshy.

Otiia e kore e waimāori ngā wāhi oru o reira (PT Ehekiera 47:11). / But the miry places thereof and the marshes thereof shall not be healed.

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Synonyms: reporepo, ngaeki, kōreporepo, pōwharuwharu


4. (noun) bog, quagmire, mire, deep hole.

Ka tapoko ahau ki te oru hōhonu, ki te wāhi kāore nei he tūnga (TPH 15/6/1900:5). / I sink into a deep quagmire, a place where there is nowhere to stand.

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Synonyms: kene, wharu, , poharu, pōharuharu


5. (noun) heart, midst, thick (of a crowd).

Ka haere i roto i te oru o te tangata (W 1971:242). / She went into the midst of the crowd.

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6. (noun) short-tail stingray, Dasyatis brevicaudata - disc quadrangular, flattened and slightly wider than long. Tail stout at the base, broad and flattened, narrowing rapidly to the sting. Plain greyish to light brown, whitish to cream ventrally. Bottom-dwelling marine ray widespread in coastal waters of the Southern Hemisphere at depths of 5-300 m. Adults common inshore during summer and autumn.

See also whai


7. (noun) koru, colensoa, Colensoa physaloides - a shrubby plant found in shady areas and stream banks in Northland and on northern offshore islands. The attractive soft, dark green, large leaves are prominently veined and serrated. Deep blue, tubular flowers occur for several months from spring. The berries are also dark blue.

See also koru

Synonyms: koru

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