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Idioms

Phrases

Proverbs

Loan words

Historical loan words

kōwhaiwhai

1. (verb) (-tia) to paint kōwhaiwhai patterns, decorate with kōwhaiwhai.

He mea whakairo hoki, he mea kōwhaiwhai, he mea tukutuku, hei pupuri i te ātanga, i te wehi, i te haratau o ērā taonga a ō tātau tīpuna i roto i tēnei o ngā whare o te Atua (TTT 1/12/1925:336). / And it was carved and decorated with rafter paintings and lattice-work to retain the beauty, awesomeness and relevance of those treasures of our ancestors in this particular house of God.

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2. (noun) painted scroll ornamentation - commonly used on meeting house rafters.

Kei te kōwhaiwhai, kei te tukutuku, kei te tāniko ngā tauira hangarite maha (PK 2008:74). / Rafter paintings, lattice-work and tāniko have many symmetrical patterns.

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