rua kōiwi
1. (noun) burial place, burial cave - strictly speaking the burial place of the bones of the dead.
Kei reira te tomokanga mā raro i te moana ki te rua kōiwi o ngā tūpāpaku rongonui o Kāwhia i ngā wā ki muri (M 2004:114). / That is where the entrance is to the subterranean burial place of the honoured dead of Kāwhia of former times.
wētā
1. (noun) wētā - large insects of various species found in trees and caves. There are five broad groups of wētā: tree wētā (pūtangatanga), ground wētā, cave wētā (tokoriro), giant wētā (wētā punga) and tusked wētā. They are active at night and all Aotearoa/New Zealand species are wingless. The females have a long, egg-laying spike at the back.
Ka toa ko Tāne. Whāia, nāna te tini o ngā tamariki a Whiro i kāhaki ki te whenua - te waeroa, te namupoto, te naonao, te wētā, te pepe, te rango, te kōwhitiwhiti (Te Ara 2013). / Tāne was victorious and took Whiro’s many birds and insects down to earth - mosquitoes, small sandflies, midges, stick insects and praying mantises, wētā, moths and butterflies, blowflies and grasshoppers.
See also pūtangatanga, tokoriro, wētā punga
pūrātoke
1. (verb) to glow, gleam.
Ka kitea, i tētahi taha o te huarahi e haere atu nei ia, e rua ngā mea e pūrātoke mai ana i roto i te wāhi ururua. Mōhio tonu ia he kanohi kurī kai tangata e rarama mai ana (TWM 11/7/1863:3). / On one side of the road along which he was travelling he saw two things glowing in the undergrowth. He knew immediately that they were the gleaming eyes of a man-eating animal.
2. (noun) glowworm, Arachnocampa luminosa, glowworm larvae - common on the walls of caves, damp road banks and riverbanks. The larvae live in a slimy, tube-like nest. Each has up to 70 sticky 'fishing lines' and a blue-green light attracts flying insects at night. The adult lives for two to three days.
(Te Māhuri Study Guide (Ed. 1): 48;)
Nāna i whakamau he pūrātoke e rua ki tana pakihiwi hei ārahi i a rātou i roto i te pōuri (TTR 1998:48). / He placed a couple of glowworms on his shoulder to guide them in the dark.
See also titiwai
3. (noun) bright spark, clever person.
ngutu
1. (noun) lip.
Tāia ana ngā ngutu, ā ka kitea ka horotea, ka tāruatia (W 1971:62). / The lips were tattooed and when it was seen that it had faded it was done again.
Synonyms: niao
2. (noun) beak, bill - usually in the plural.
Kāore e kitea he kākā nui ake i te kākāpō o Aotearoa. He kaha tonu ōna ngutu, ā, he pewa te āhua, pērā tonu i te katoa o ngā momo kākā (HM 4/1998:4). / There is no larger parrot than the kākāpō of New Zealand. Its beak is quite strong and it is curved, just like all parrot species.
3. (noun) entrance (of a cave, river, etc.), river mouth.
Mehemea e kapi ana a waho o te ngutu, kōkiritia tonutia ki waenganui tonu o te matua, engari kia inaki tonu te rere o ngā toa hāpai rākau ki mua (JPS 1919:86). / If outside the entrance is closely guarded, attack right at the middle of the army, but rush as a tightly packed group of warriors with weapons raised in front.
4. (noun) muzzle (of a gun).
He mea amo te pū a Te Awheroa, ko te ngutu o te pū i hurihia ki muri ki a Hāre Ngaika e haere ana i muri i a ia (TWMNT 10/12/1873:182). / Te Awheroa carried his gun on his shoulder with the muzzle turned towards Hāre Ngaika, who was walking behind him.
Synonyms: māngai
5. (noun) rim (of a container), mouthpiece (of a calabash or musical instrument).
Ka taha te patu i tōna angaanga, ka pakaru ko te tahā, mau mai i a ia ko te ngutu anake o te tahā rā (NM 1938:78). / The weapon passed by his skull, breaking the calabash, leaving him holding only the mouthpiece of the calabash.
pekapeka
1. (noun) bat (animal) - endemic long-tailed (Chalinolobus tuberculatus) and short-tailed (Mystacina tuberculata) bats. Long-tailed bats live in caves and hollow trees, while the short-tailed bat is found in heavy bush of the North Island.
Pērā hoki me Māui-pōtiki i tango rā i te āhua o te kāhu, o te kāeaea, o te ruru, o te kea, o te pekapeka, o te kiore, o te kererū, o te noke hoki; kātahi anō ka mate i a Hine-nui-te-pō i roto i tōna whare i Pōtaka-rongorongo. (JPS 1922:48). / It was thus that Māui-pōtiki took on the form of the harrier hawk, the New Zealand falcon, the morepork, the kea, the bat, the rat, the pigeon, and the worm; until he was finally killed by Hine-nui-te-pō in her house at Pōtaka-rongorongo.
2. (noun) carpetshark, Cephaloscyllium isabellum - light brown with irregular, dark brown saddles, spots and blotches. Endemic to the coastal waters of Aotearoa/New Zealand at 0-700 m depth. Relatively common on sand and shelly-cobble bottoms.
3. (noun) cotton fireweed, Senecio quadridentatus - found throughout Aotearoa/New Zealand from coastal to subalpine habitats, always in recently distrubed ground. Short-lived, usually much branched, native perennial herb up to 1 m tall.
4. (noun) greenstone ear ornament.
Te maha o te heitiki, o te kuru pounamu, o te mako, o te pekapeka, o te pōria (NM 1928:129). / There were many neck pendants in a human image, greenstone ornaments, shark-tooth ornaments, greenstone ear ornaments and captive bird rings of bone or stone used as ornaments.
5. (noun) starfish, sea star - a general term.
Synonyms: papatangaroa, pātangatanga, pātangaroa
6. (noun) comb star, Astropecten polyacanthus - a five-pointed starfish 200-250 mm across, of buff or yellowish brown colour, very spiny at the sides and underneath, but with a dense pile-like texture on top. Found on sandy bottoms from low-water to about 55 m, but occasionally on sandy flats between tides around the North Island east coast.
