nanakia
1. (verb) to be better than expected, not too bad, pretty good.
He nanakia tonu te āwhina a te iwi (HP 1991:80). / The effort of the people was not too bad.
Synonyms: autaia, tōna [pai] nei
2. (modifier) crafty, treacherous, deceitful, cruel.
Nā, ko Pōkai, ko tērā i hoki mai rā i te ara, rātou nei ko Rangi-tā-whakarere mā, ko tō Ngāti Kura tangata, i runga i te maunga o tētahi o ngā tāngata nanakia rā, ka tae a Hau-tukia rāua ko tōna irāmutu, a Rangi-ta-whakarere, ko tēnei whenua ko Wai-keri - ahu atu ki Pari-o-tonga (ko te pā o Ihenga i whakaekea e Ngā Puhi i ōna rā), ka tukua mōna (JPS 1911:180). / Now, Pōkai, who returned with Rangi-tā-whakarere and others, belonged to Ngāti Kura; and on account of his having caught one of the robbers, Hau-tukia and his nephew Rangi-ta-whakarere made over to him the land of Wai-keri - right up to Pari-o-tonga (which was the pā of Ihenga that was assaulted by Ngā Puhi).
3. (noun) demon, pest, villain, scoundrel, tricky character, interesting character.
Ka āhua mārama ake ki tōna āhua i ngā kōrero paki mōna: he wā he nanakia, he wā he atua tonu (TTR 1990:358). / It's somewhat clear as to his nature from stories about him: sometimes he was a villain and at other times he was a hero.
Synonyms: riha, kīrearea, iroiro, whakapōrearea, tainanakia, taurekareka, nauhea, nauwhea
tuawahine
1. (personal noun) heroine, principal female character, female celebrity, female idol - a familiar name for the main character or actor of a story, etc. and usually used as a proper name.
Ānō te rangi o te kōauau a Tūtānekai, me he rū nā anō e ueue ana i a tuawahine kia haere atu ki te kare ā-roto a tōna ngākau (NM 1928:110). / It was as if the tune of Tūtānekai's flute was an earthquake shaking our heroine to go to the love of her heart.
tuahangata
1. (personal noun) hero, male idol, principal male character, male celebrity - a familiar name for the main male character of a story, etc. and is often used as a proper name.
Nō konei ka haere mai a tuahangata i runga i tana hōiho mā (TTR 1990:220). / Here our principal male character came on his white horse.
kiripuaki mātāmua
1. (noun) main actor, main character.
Synonyms: kiriwhakaari matua
2. (noun) character (computers) - a letter, number, punctuation mark, or other symbol.
Ka whakakapi rawa a Excel i ngā pūāhua muhu i ia ingoa mā tētahi pūāhua ahungarua (_) (LP 2017). / Excel will permanently replace invalid characters in each name with an underscore (_) character (LP 2017).
2. (noun) (mathematics) power.
āhua
1. (verb) (-tia) to form, make.
Ka āhua te pā, ko Rangitawhi (W 1971:4). / The pā was made, which was Rangitawhi.
Synonyms: mahi, mea, hangahanga, waihanga, whakahangahanga, whaihanga, hanga
2. (noun) shape, appearance, condition, character, likeness, nature, figure, form.
(Te Pihinga Textbook (Ed. 2): 1-7, 13-20, 94-96, 150-154;)
3. (noun) it looks as though, looks like it, it would seem - in the idiom te āhua nei.
See also te āhua nei
Synonyms: te āhua nei
mārohirohi
1. (verb) to be hard, strong, brave, of strong character, resolute, determined, tenacious, mighty.
Nā tana noho i runga i te pāmu a te whānau, i mārohirohi ai tana tinana, i pakari hoki ōna whakaaro, i tino kaha hoki tana manawanui (TTR 2000:206). / Because of his life on the family farm his body was strong, his mind was sharp and he was very determined.
2. (modifier) hard, strong, brave, of strong character, resolute, determined, tenacious, mighty.
Ko ōna hoa e rua rau mano ngā toa mārohirohi (PT II Nga Whakapapa 17:16). / And with him two hundred thousand mighty men of valor.
Synonyms: rae pakari, ngākau titikaha, manawa rahi, pūtohe, niwha, kiriūka, manawanui, marohi, titikaha, whakakiriūka, pikoni, ū, pūkeke, aumangea, pukunanaiore, tōkeke
3. (noun) strength, power.
Nā ngā mahi whātōtō i tino puta ai te rongo nui o Īhakara Rāpana, arā, i te mārohirohi me te rite o te hanga o tōna tinana ki te taura wepu (TTR 1998:164). / It was in wrestling that Īhakara Robin became famous, that is because of his strength and because his body was like a whipcord.
Synonyms: kōmārohi, kaha, tino rangatiratanga, marohi, mana, maru, awe, hiko, ihi, awenga, pū, mana whakahaere
4. (noun) strong person, brave person, powerful person, powerhouse.
Anō te hinganga o ngā mārohirohi! (PT 2 Hamuera 1:19). / How are the mighty fallen!
2. (adjective) be pretty good, not too bad - a colloquialism used to say that a person, or something a person has done, is good or quite good and perhaps better than expected.
He autaia tonu te kōhine rā ki te kōrero Māori. / The girl over there is pretty good at speaking Māori.
3. (modifier) pretty good, not too bad.
Arā anō ētahi tāngata autaia nei te matatau ki te reo (HM 2/1994:3). / There are some other people who are pretty fluent in the language.
Synonyms: nanakia, tōna [pai] nei
4. (modifier) difficult, troublesome - when used before a noun.
Ko ngā taitamariki tonu i kaha ki te whakawai i ō rātou pakeke ki te hokohoko i ō rātou whenua. Ka noho kino te iwi. Tautohetohe tonu ngā tamariki ki ngā pakeke. Ko Rāniera Te Iho-o-te-rangi rāua ko Te Mānihera Te Rangi-taka-i-waho me te tama anō hoki a Te Hiko, me Wī Tāmehana ngā autaia totohe nei (TTR 1990:190) / It was the younger youths who urged their elders to sell their lands. This caused conflict amongst the tribe. The children argued with the elders. Rāniera Te Iho-o-te-rangi and Te Mānihera Te Rangi-taka-i-waho along with Te Hiko's son, Wī Tamehana, were involved in this troublesome dispute.
5. (noun) fellow, bloke, guy, chap, tricky character - sometimes implies a sense of mischief.
I reira ngā koroheke o Taranaki e kōhumuhumu, e tūmatakuru ana ki te whakahīhī rawa o te autaia nei, kei te tamariki tonu ka tū ki te marae o te Kīngi (TTR 2000:30). / There the Taranaki elders were whispering and in consternation at the arrogance of this bloke, who was still a child daring to stand on the King’s marae.
6. (noun) amazing contraption, wondrous sight, extraordinary thing - a term used for something strange, unusual, unfamiliar or awesome. Sometimes a sense of humour is involved in the use of the term.
Katahi ka rere taua autaia nei. Aeha! Me te aha? Me te uira ka hiko i te rangi tōna rite o te haere. Kīhai i mau i te kanohi te hopu te āhua o ngā otaota me ngā rākau o taua whenua i te tere o te haere o taua rerewē (TWMNT 19/5/1874:138). / Then that amazing contraption sped on. Amazing! What was it like? It travelled like the lightning in the heavens. The eye could not catch the appearance of the vegetation and the trees of the land, such was the speed of the train.
whanokē
1. (stative) be peculiar, erratic, extraordinary, weird, unusual, strange, odd, different - sometimes written as two words, i.e. whano kē.
Ko te mea i whanokē ai taua mārenatanga he mutu taua wahine i mārenatia rā, kāore ōna ringaringa. Ko te rīngi i kuhua ki te toru o ngā matimati o te waewae mauī (TWMNT 3/11/1874:278). / The thing that was peculiar about that wedding was that the bride was an amputee, she had no arms. The ring had to be placed on the third toe of her left foot.
2. (modifier) peculiar, erratic, unpredictable, extraordinary, weird, unusual, strange, odd, different.
Kaua te ngākau whanoke, te ngākau kōhuru e waiho hei hoa noho tahi mō tātau (JPS 1928:182). / Do not allow the erratic heart or treacherous heart abide with us.
Synonyms: kē
3. (noun) strange behaviour, erratic behaviour.
Nā te kōti whenua ka puhake ngā kino katoa: te kōrero parau, te tāhae, te hae, te whakamauāhara, te whanokē, te aroha-kore, te ngākau apo. Ahakoa mōhiotia te tika o te tangata ki te whenua ka romia, ka patua (TTT 1/8/1925:278). / Because of the land court all the evils became apparent: telling lies, stealing, envy, hatred, erratic behaviour, lack of compassion and greed. Despite the rights of people to land they were robbed and defeated.
4. (noun) eccentric, nonconformist, mischief, oddball, oddity, unusual fellow, character - someone who is unusual.
Ka nui te houkeke o te whanokē rā, e kore e rongo (W 1971:63). / That character is extremely obstinate and will not listen.
taha Māori
1. (noun) Māori identity, Māori character, Māori side, Māori heritage, Māori ancestry, Māori descent.
Kitea ana tōna kaingākau ki tana taha Māori i te nui o ngā whakataukī nāna i kohi mai, he mea āta tuhi ā-ringa tonu e ia ki runga kāri (TTR 1998:6). / Balneavis's interest in his Maori heritage was evident in the large number of whakatauki (proverbs) that he collected, which he meticulously hand-wrote on cards.
2. (noun) part-Māori.
Ko tana tangata tohutohu i a ia ko Tom Jones, he taha Māori, he taha Pākehā hoki nei ōna (TTR 1994:91). / His adviser was Tom Jones, who was part-Māori and part-European.
he momo (tonu)
1. true to form, it's a family trait, inherited quality, hereditary trait - this idiom highlights a person's character and inherited qualities or those of his/her ancestors. It can be applied to both good and bad traits.
Ka rawe kē te reo o Kiri! He momo tonu tērā nō tana whānau. / Kiri's voice is wonderful! That's a family trait.
