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Historical loan words

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Idioms

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Proverbs

Loan words

Historical loan words

rangatira

1. (noun) landlord.


2. (noun) employer.

rangatira

1. (verb) to be of high rank, become of high rank, enobled, rich, well off, noble, esteemed, revered.

Ki ahau ia kua mōkaitia a Taranaki; kātahi anō ka rangatira (MM.TKM 14/7/1860:46). / But in my opinion Taranaki have been enslaved; only recently have they gained esteem.

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Synonyms: nui, kauanuanu, maruwehi, haumako, rari, mōmona, whairawa


2. (modifier) high ranking, chiefly, noble, esteemed.

I heke mai i a Matakore rāua ko Wai-harapepe ētehi o ngā whānau rangatira o roto i ngā iwi o Tainui (NIT 1995:195). / Some of the chiefly families of the Tainui tribes descend from Matakore and Wai-harapepe.

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Synonyms: metararahi


3. (noun) chief (male or female), chieftain, chieftainess, master, mistress, boss, supervisor, employer, landlord, owner, proprietor - qualities of a leader is a concern for the integrity and prosperity of the people, the land, the language and other cultural treasures (e.g. oratory and song poetry), and an aggressive and sustained response to outside forces that may threaten these.

Kei te whakamanamana a Rewi, ānō nei ko ia te rangatira (PK 2008:21). / Dave is strutting as if he is the chief.
Te rangatira, he kairanga i te tira: i te tira o te hapū, o te iwi, ki ngā haere, ki ngā mahi e pā ana ki te hapū, ki te iwi. He kaiārahi. He kaitīmata, he kaiwhakatutuki i ngā mahi, ka whai ai te iwi i raro. Ka kīia te tinana pēnei he 'rangatira' ko tēnei kāwai rangatira tonu tēnei, e manaakitia ai, e piki ai, e mana ai, ki roto ki tētahi iwi kē (TTT 1/5/1926:400-401). / The chief is a weaver of people: of both hapū and iwi and in their travels and endeavours concerning both the hapū and iwi. She is a leader. She is a starter and finisher of tasks and so the people follow her. She is said to be a chief because of her aristocratic lineage whereby she is hosted generously and her mana increases amongst other tribes.

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See also mana, tapu

Synonyms: māhita, kairēti, kaituku rīhi, ariki

Rangatira

1. (personal noun) Chiefs - a rugby team from the central North Island.

Rangatira

1. (location) South East Island - one of the three main islands of Wharekauri/Chatham Islands.

whenua rangatira

1. (noun) state of peace.

Tēnā ko tēnei, he whenua rangatira te hanga, tō ana te marino puta noa i te motu (KO 16/5/1882:1). / Now this is a place in a state of peace, tranquility pervades the land.

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whāngai rangatira

1. (noun) gourd plant, Lagenaria siceraria - a cultivated plant. The hard shell of the fruit is used for a variety of purposes.

See also hue

Synonyms: wenewene

hoa rangatira

1. (noun) spouse, partner.

Ka tū ki Ākarana i te Paraire, ka kī mai tōku hoa rangatira kia haere māua ki te hāereere, ka whakaae ahau, ka haere māua, ka ahu atu tā māua haere ki Te Tō (KO 14/10/1882:7). / When it stopped at Auckland on the Friday, my spouse said that she and I should go for a wander around and I agreed, so we departed, our walk heading to Te Tō (the western headland of Freeman's Bay, Auckland).

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Synonyms: tau o te ate, tahu, hoa, hoa haere kōtui, hoa tākunekune

E kore koe e ngaro tōku reo rangatira

1. You will never be lost my chiefly language.

You will never be lost my chiefly language. /

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Manu arataki i te kāhui

1. A metaphor in acknowledgement of one's leadership qualities as the leader of the flock.

Ko wai te manu arataki i te kāhui? Māna kē rātou hei whakatika / Who is the leader? She will correct them.

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ngau taringa

1. (noun) ear biting ceremony - a ceremony by which the mana of a dying tohunga or rangatira was transferred to a younger person by biting the ear of the dying person.

Ka whakaheke te tohunga, a Taipāhau, ka tukuna e ia ōna mana katoa ki a Te Heuheu i runga i te kawa o te 'ngau taringa.' Koia tēnei; ko tā te taitama ko ia te whākapi he komikomi i te taringa o te kaumātua (TTR 1990:186). / The tohunga, Taipāhau, transferred all his powers to Te Heuheu by the ceremony known as 'ngau taringa'. This is: the young man, who is to be the successor, bites the ear of the elder.

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mana

1. (verb) to be legal, effectual, binding, authoritative, valid.

Ka mārō te takoto a te kupu kia rāhuitia ngā whenua Māori katoa o Aotearoa kia kaua ai e taea te hoko ki te karauna ki te tangata noa rānei, ā mā te Poari o te takiwā e whakatau kia whakaotia rānei ngā tuku e tārewa ana i te wā i mana ai tēnei pire hei ture kāore rānei (TP 1/6/1900:9). / The wording has been finalised that all Māori land be set aside so that it can not be sold to the crown or to an individual and the Board of the district will decide whether the sales underway at the time this bill becomes legal in law will be completed or not.

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2. (noun) prestige, authority, control, power, influence, status, spiritual power, charisma - mana is a supernatural force in a person, place or object. Mana goes hand in hand with tapu, one affecting the other. The more prestigious the event, person or object, the more it is surrounded by tapu and mana. Mana is the enduring, indestructible power of the atua and is inherited at birth, the more senior the descent, the greater the mana. The authority of mana and tapu is inherited and delegated through the senior line from the atua as their human agent to act on revealed will. Since authority is a spiritual gift delegated by the atua, man remains the agent, never the source of mana. This divine choice is confirmed by the elders, initiated by the tohunga under traditional consecratory rites (tohi). Mana gives a person the authority to lead, organise and regulate communal expeditions and activities, to make decisions regarding social and political matters. A person or tribe's mana can increase from successful ventures or decrease through the lack of success. The tribe give mana to their chief and empower him/her and in turn the mana of an ariki or rangatira spreads to his/her people and their land, water and resources. Almost every activity has a link with the maintenance and enhancement of mana and tapu. Animate and inanimate objects can also have mana as they also derive from the atua and because of their own association with people imbued with mana or because they are used in significant events. There is also an element of stewardship, or kaitiakitanga, associated with the term when it is used in relation to resources, including land and water.

(Te Kōhure Textbook (Ed. 2): 238-240; Te Kōhure Video Tapes (Ed. 1): 6;)

I tērā tau i mātakitaki tātau ki te ānga haeretanga a Tiamani i a Rūhia, me te mea nā anō kua pēpē te mana o Rūhia (TKO 15/8/1916:8). / Last year we watched Germany drive away Russia and it would seem the mana of Russia has been crushed.

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See also mana moana, mana atua, mana motuhake, mana whakaheke, mana tangata, mana whakatipu, mana taurite, mana whenua, Mana Motuhake, mana tūpuna, mana whakaaio, mana whakahaere, mana tangata whenua, tuku mana whakahaere

Synonyms: hau, whakahirahiratanga, hōnore, mōtika, mārohirohi, maru, awe, hiko, ihi, awenga, , mana whakahaere, tino rangatiratanga, kaha, kōmārohi, marohi


3. (noun) jurisdiction, mandate, freedom.

Kua oti i a Waata Wiremu Hīpango i raro i te mana o te Komiti Nui o Whanganui ēnei tikanga e mau ake i raro iho nei (TJ 6/10/1898:14). / Under the jurisdiction of the main committee of Whanganui, Walter William Hīpango has completed the following procedures.

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Synonyms: mana whakahaere

Māhina-a-rangi

1. (personal name) a famous ancestor of the East Coast tribes who married Tūrongo, a rangatira from the Tainui people.

(Te Māhuri Textbook (Ed. 2): 117-120;)

I te hononga o Tūrongo rāua ko Māhina-a-rangi ka hono hoki ngā tātai nunui o te Tai-rāwhiti ki ngā tātai o ngā iwi o Tainui (NIT 1995:73). / When Tūrongo and Māhina-a-rangi married they united the chiefly lineages of the East Coast with those of the Tainui tribes.

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poumatua

1. (noun) chief - between an ariki and a rangatira in rank.

rangatiratanga

1. (noun) chieftainship, right to exercise authority, chiefly autonomy, chiefly authority, ownership, leadership of a social group, domain of the rangatira, noble birth, attributes of a chief.

Kai whea tō rangatiratanga, tō ihi, tō mana, tō marutuna, tō maruwehi? (TPH 30/3/1900:2). / Where is your chiefly autonomy, your personal magnetism, your commanding presence, your inspiration?

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2. (noun) kingdom, realm, sovereignty, principality, self-determination, self-management - connotations extending the original meaning of the word resulting from Bible and Treaty of Waitangi translations.

Anō te whakauaua o te tapoko o te hunga taonga ki te rangatiratanga o te Atua! (PT Maka 10:23). / How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God!

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Synonyms: kīngitanga, tino rangatiratanga, mana motuhake, motuhaketanga

tapu

1. (stative) be sacred, prohibited, restricted, set apart, forbidden, under atua protection - see definition 4 for further explanations.

I taua wā ko Te Riri anake te tangata o Ngāti Hine e kaha ana ki te noho i aua whenua. Ko te mea hoki e tapu katoa ana te whaitua nei, pokapoka katoa ana ngā hiwi i ngā rua tūpāpaku (TTR 1998:82). / At that time Te Riri was the only person of Ngāti Hine who wanted to live on the property, because the area was tapu and the surrounding hills were riddled with burial caves.

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See also noho tapu, whakanoa

Synonyms: kura, whakatapu, puaroa, apiapi, kōpiri, rāhui, ārikarika, taparere


2. (modifier) sacred, prohibited, restricted, set apart, forbidden, under atua protection - see definition 4 for further explanations.

Kei te maumahara tonu ngā uri o Te Whiti ki te tūruapō, arā, te maunga tapu kei te tonga, kei tōna ātārangi he rākau, e pae rua ake ana i tōna peka ngā manu mōhio a Mumuhau rāua ko Takeretō (TTR 1994:172). / It is remembered by Te Whiti's descendants, namely that there is a sacred mountain to the south and in its shadow there is a tree with a branch and on this branch are two birds of knowledge, Mumuhau and Takaretō.

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3. (modifier) holy - an adaptation of the original meaning for the Christian concept of holiness and sanctity.

Otiia hei minita anō rātou i roto i tōku wāhi tapu, hei tiaki i ngā kūwaha o te whare, hei minita ki te whare (PT Ehekiera 44:11). / Yet they shall be ministers in my sanctuary, having charge at the gates of the house, and ministering to the house.

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4. (noun) restriction, prohibition - a supernatural condition. A person, place or thing is dedicated to an atua and is thus removed from the sphere of the profane and put into the sphere of the sacred. It is untouchable, no longer to be put to common use. The violation of tapu would result in retribution, sometimes including the death of the violator and others involved directly or indirectly. Appropriate karakia and ceremonies could mitigate these effects. Tapu was used as a way to control how people behaved towards each other and the environment, placing restrictions upon society to ensure that society flourished. Making an object tapu was achieved through rangatira or tohunga acting as channels for the atua in applying the tapu. Members of a community would not violate the tapu for fear of sickness or catastrophe as a result of the anger of the atua. Intrinsic, or primary, tapu are those things which are tapu in themselves. The extensions of tapu are the restrictions resulting from contact with something that is intrinsically tapu. This can be removed with water, or food and karakia. A person is imbued with mana and tapu by reason of his or her birth. High-ranking families whose genealogy could be traced through the senior line from the atua were thought to be under their special care. It was a priority for those of ariki descent to maintain mana and tapu and to keep the strength of the mana and tapu associated with the atua as pure as possible. People are tapu and it is each person's responsibility to preserve their own tapu and respect the tapu of others and of places. Under certain situations people become more tapu, including women giving birth, warriors travelling to battle, men carving (and their materials) and people when they die. Because resources from the environment originate from one of the atua, they need to be appeased with karakia before and after harvesting. When tapu is removed, things become noa, the process being called whakanoa. Interestingly, tapu can be used as a noun or verb and as a noun is sometimes used in the plural. Noa, on the other hand, can not be used as a noun.

(Te Kōhure Textbook (Ed. 2): 237-240; Te Kōhure Video Tapes (Ed. 1): 6;)

Kāore he kai maoa o runga i tēnei waka, i a Tākitimu, nā te tapu. He kai mata anake (HP 1991:9). / There was no cooked food on this canoe, on Tākitimu, because it was tapu. There was only raw food.
Ko tēnei i muri nei he karakia whakahorohoro i ngā tapu o ngā tāngata (TWMNT 3/4/1872:58). / The following is a ritual chant to remove the tapu of people.

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See also rāhui

Synonyms: rāhui, poropeihana, apiapi, aukatinga, here, kōpiri

Tinirau

1. (personal name) a rangatira in Hawaiki who killed Kae for eating Tinirau's pet whale, Tutunui.

(Te Māhuri Textbook (Ed. 2): 27-28;)

Nā ka haere te kakara ki a Tinirau, ka rongo a Tinirau rāua ko tana wahine ki te kakara, nā ka mōhio kua mate te mōkai a tā rāua tamaiti, a Tū-huruhuru, kua pau i a Kae (NM 1928:29). / Now the aroma reached Tinirau and when Tinirau and his wife smelt the aroma they knew that the pet of their child, Tū-huruhuru, had been consumed by Kae.

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whare wānanga

1. (noun) university, place of higher learning - traditionally, places where tohunga taught the sons of rangatira their people's knowledge of history, genealogy and religious practices.

Ā, i ēnei rā ka tū ngā kura reo ki ngā kuratini, ki ngā whare wānanga ko te iwi kāinga o taua rohe ngā kaiwhakahaere (HM 4/2008:1). / And these days language learning gatherings are held in polytehnics and universities and the local people of that area are the organisers.

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See also whare pūrākau

kōkohu

1. (verb) to give something secretly or quietly - used of giving koha in person directly and unobtrusively to the rangatira or a member of the bereaved family at a hui or tangihanga.

See also kōkuhu


2. (verb) to introduce surreptitiously.

Kia kore ai e tutū te puehu i āta haere noa te kōkohu mai a Īhaka i ngā take nei, arā, i te whakahaere o ngā karakia hou, ture hou rānei a te Hāhi (TTR 2000:93). / To avoid disruption, Īhaka surreptitiously introduced these matters slowly, whether it was the organisation of the new liturgy, or new rules of the church.

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kōkuhu

1. (verb) (-a,-na,-tia) to insert, introduce, intrude (into a series or company).

Ki te kīia tō reo e te reo kōkuhu he ngoikore, i te mea kāore e taea e ia te ao hou te kōrero, me kī atu koe, "Aua atu. Hei aha mā mātou." (HM 2/2009:10). / If it is stated by the introduced language that your language is weak, that it's not able to talk about the modern world, you should say, "So what. That doesn't matter to us."

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2. (verb) (-a,-tia) give secretly, give quietly, give surreptitiously - used of giving koha in person directly and unobtrusively to the rangatira or a member of the bereaved family at a hui or tangihanga.

I ētahi wā kua heria hunatia atu te whakaaro ki te wharemate. Ko tērā whakaaro mā te kirimate. Kāore he whaipānga atu o te marae ki tērā whakaaro. I ētahi wā kua kōkuhutia atu te whakaaro ki roto i te ringa o te rangatira o te tangata whenua i te wā e ohaoha ana, e rūrū ana rānei (TWK 39:16). / Sometimes the gift is taken secretly to the people in the place where the body lies. That gift is for the bereaved family. The marae has no claim on that gift. Sometimes the gift is given surreptitiously into the hand of the leader of the local people at the time when they are each other or shaking hands.

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See also koha


3. (modifier) surreptitiously, furtively, secretly, covertly.

Kāore rānei ngā Māori kōpūrua e haere kōkuhu atu ki taua takiwā tapu ki te hari atu i ana hani whakamate? (KO 15/1/1885:8). / Will the vacillating Māori go surreptitiously to that area of prohibition to take his destructive weapon?

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Synonyms: tārehu, torohū, toropuku, whakamokeke, muna, ngaro, tōngā, , puku


4. (noun) insertion, insert.

Ka taea anō te whai i te tikanga o ngā tauira o runga ake nei, me te kōkuhu atu i te ‘kore’ ki roto (HKK 1999:83). / The use of the pattern above can also be used with the insertion of 'kore'.

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