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Historical loan words

hōmiromiro

1. (noun) white-breasted North Island tomtit, Petroica macrocephala toitoi - a little black-and-white bird with a large head and short tail. Lives in forest and scrub.

Tērā kei te aitia mai, ka tae te tohu ki ngā mōkaikai a Timu, ki a Hine-pipi-wai, ki a Hine-papa-wai, he manu hōmiromiro (JPS 1907:222). / They cohabited and an omen reached the Timu's pets, Hine-pipi-wai and Hine-papa-wai, which were tomtits.

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See also miromiro

Synonyms: kikitori, kōmiromiro, māuipōtiki, pipitore, pipitori, pīmiromiro, pīngirungiru, pīmirumiru, pīrangirangi, toitoi, miromiro

kanohi hōmiromiro

1. (noun) someone with an eye for detail, someone with keen eyesight, sharp sighted, sharp-eye, eagle-eye - a saying based on the observation that the hōmiromiro (tomtit) has keen eyesight and watches for its food on the ground and on trunks of trees, etc.

Kīia ai te tangata karu tore, ‘he kanohi hōmiromiro’ (Te Ara 2015). / A sharp-eyed person is called a 'kanohi hōmiromiro’ (tomtit eyes).

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karu hōmiromiro

1. (noun) someone with sharp eyesight, 'eagle-eye'.

He karu hōmiromiro taua wahine, kāore ōna mōwhiti. / That woman is someone with sharp eyesight, and she doesn't have glasses.

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kanohi hōmiromiro

1. (adjective) keen-sighted.

Synonyms: kanohi kākāpō

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