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Loan words

Historical loan words

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Idioms

Phrases

Proverbs

Loan words

Historical loan words

kutu

1. (noun) vermin, parasitic lice, lice, louse - tiny, flattened, wingless insects living on human hair, birds and animals.

I a ia e whakapuru ana i tana pū ka rongo ake ia i te kutu e ngau ana i tana kakī. Kātahi ka tuohu ki te hopu. I a ia i tuohu rā tika tonu mai te matā a te Tiamana patō ana ki te pēke i muri i a ia. Mehemea kāore tana tuohutanga kua tū te matā rā ki tana māhunga (TTT 1/4/1922:12). / While he was loading his gun he felt a louse biting his neck. Then he bowed his head to catch it. While his head was bowed the German's bullet slammed straight into the bag behind him. If he hadn't bowed the bullet would have hit his head.

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Synonyms: pekeriki, eo

Kutu Pārera

1. (location) Gaer Arm (Fiordland).

matā kai kutu

1. (noun) warrior, fighter, vermin-destroying warrior.

Hare atu rā koe, te mata kai kutu! (M2006:120). / Depart, o vermin-destroying warrior!

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riha

1. (adjective) be bad, disgusting, harmful.

E ai ki Te Papa Atawhai he pōrearea, he riha te kiore, he kai nōna i ngā tipu me ngā kararehe māori (Te Ara 2013). / Rats are considered a pest and harmful by the Department of Conservation, as they eat native plants and animals.

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Synonyms: whiro, kikino, rihariha, kino


2. (noun) nit - the eggs of kutu (the human head louse).

Kaua e whakaaro ki ngā kutu anake engari ngā hēki, arā ngā riha e piri ana ki ngā huruhuru me patu anō hoki, te take ka whānau mai hei kutu i roto i te wiki kotahi (TTT 1/4/1923:3). / Don't just consider the lice but also the eggs, that is the nits, sticking to the hair, they should be killed too, the reason being that they will hatch as lice within one week.

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See also rihariha

Synonyms: rihariha


3. (noun) pest.

Ka kīia ngā riha kua kawea mai ki Aotearoa i whenua kē, he riha rāwaho (RP 2009:372). / Pests that have been brought to New Zealand from other countries are called introduced pests.

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Synonyms: whakapōrearea, kīrearea, nanakia, iroiro

ngaro

1. (noun) blowfly, houseflies of various species, insect - in connection with mākutu the fly represented the life or spirit of the person involved.

Ko te ōkiha kua ngaua e taua ngaro, he mea anō ka hīrori, pērā me te kau kua kai i te tutu nei i tēnei motu i a tātou nei, ā ka pohe ngā kanohi, ka mate (TWMNT 21/4/1874:94). / The steer that has been bitten by this insect, will later stagger around, like a cow which has eaten tutu in this country which goes blind and dies.

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See also ngarongaro

mate Māori

1. (noun) Māori sickness - psychosomatic illnesses attributed to transgressions of tapu or to mākutu.

Ko te mate Māori ko te mea i mate i te kēhua i runga i te mākutu a te tohunga. Ka taka ki roto ki tēnei whakaupoko te mate kohi i roto i te whānau, arā: —(1) Whakanoa i ngā mea tapu a te whānau; (2) takahi i ngā tohutohu a te tohunga; (3) takahi i ngā wāhi tapu e mōhiotia ana he tapu nō mua iho; (4) te turaki i ētahi rākau tapu. Ko tētahi mate ngāwari nei nā te kōrero a ētahi i whakanui, tau mai hoki te whakaae a te tohunga ka kīia he mate Māori (TP 4/1907:9). / Mate Māori was when someone became mysteriously sick as a result of a tohunga's witchcraft. Tuberculosis within a family falls into this category, caused by: (1) Treating the tapu things of the family as normal; (2) ignoring the advice of the tohunga; (3) walking on tapu places known to be tapu in the past; (4) and the felling of tapu trees. With the agreement of the tohunga, any simple illness can be said to be serious and called a mate Māori. (Part of a description of mate Māori by Tūtere Wī Repa.)
Ahakoa tonu te tini, te momo hoki o ōna rongoā, hei whakaora noa ēnei i ngā mate Māori (TTR 1998:170). / Although her healing remedies were many and varied, they were for healing Māori illnesses.

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ngarongaro

1. (noun) fly, blowfly, houseflies of various species, insect - in connection with mākutu the fly represented the life or spirit of the person involved.

Ko te rākau a te tohunga he kāramuramu hei ā i te ngarongaro rā ki roto i te tōrino (JPS 1894:169). / The wand used by the tohunga to drive the fly into the tōrino is made of kāramuramu wood.

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