2. (noun) tide, sea - used as a noun.
Ngāi Tai
1. (personal noun) tribal group in the area around Tōrere and also at Clevedon near Auckland.
(Te Kākano Textbook (Ed. 2): 42;)
E kī ana a Te Tūtere, kei te whakaae a Ngāi Tai o Tōrere ki tā Hēnare Ruru, engari i kī a Te Wētini Taku o Ngāi Tai, i titoa te waiata nei e taua wahine ki Tōrere (M 2006:108). / Te Tūtere said that Ngāi Tai of Tōrere agrees with Hēnare Ruru, but Te Wētini Taku of Ngāi Tai claims that this song was composed by that woman at Tōrere.
tai mate
1. (noun) slack water, slow-moving water - a time at the turn of the tide when it is neither ebbing nor flowing.
Tirohia ake te pō ka tuku iho i runga Te Torohanga, ko te tohu tai mate ē (MM.TKM 1/2/1855:29). / Look up at the darkness that gathers on Te Torohanga, the sign of slack water.
He tai mate tēnei. Ka hoe tātou (W 1971:364). / This is slack water. Let's paddle.
tai nui
1. (noun) spring tide, king tide, tidal wave, huge tide.
Tekau mā rua putu te teitei o te tai nui i pā atu ki te ākau o Tonga, he motu kei te taha whakarua o Niu Tīrani (TWMNT 5/6/1877:149). / The tidal wave that struck the shores of Tonga, islands to the north-east of New Zealand, was twelve feet high.
See also taitai nunui
wai tai
1. (noun) sea water, salt water.
Ka kitea atu te mahi a te aua e ngote ana i te wai tai (HP 1991:16). / Lots of yellow-eyed mullet were seen sucking the sea water.
See also waitai
maremare tai
1. (noun) jellyfish - a general name.
See also petipeti
tai pari
1. (noun) high tide.
Ko te wāhi e tārewa ana ko ngā roto kei waenganui i ngā whenua, ko ngā parumoana, arā ko ngā whenua e pā ana ki ngā moana, e ngaromia ana e te tai pari. Ki te Māori he whenua ēnei nōna (TTT 1/8/1922:13). / The part still unresolved relates to lakes within the land and the seabed, that is the land associated with the sea which is covered by the high tide. To the Māori this land belongs to them.
kiri tai
1. (noun) outer skin, epidermis.
See also kiritai
matuku tai
1. (noun) reef heron, Egretta sacra - a slaty-grey heron with a long, heavy, grey to yellowish bill. Legs relatively short, yellow-green. Hunched and almost horizontal when feeding. Found in mangrove inlets, rocky shores, wave platforms and intertidal mudflats.
See also matuku moana