Filters

Idioms

Phrases

Proverbs

Loan words

Historical loan words

Filters

Idioms

Phrases

Proverbs

Loan words

Historical loan words

mana whakaheke

1. (noun) inherited status, mana through descent - mana that originates from the atua and is handed down through the senior male line from the atua. Also called mana tūpuna or mana tuku iho.

(Te Kōhure Video Tapes (Ed. 1): 6;)

See also mana tūpuna

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.

Show example

Hide example

whakarerenga

1. (noun) leaving behind, desertion, abandonment, forsaking, discarding.

Ka tangohia e te patupaiarehe te āhua o ngā whakakai, e mau ana i ngā ringaringa o tēnei, o tēnei, o tēnei; te haerenga hoki, whakarerenga iho, ngaro noa (NM 1928:152). / The patupaiarehe took the image of the neck and ear ornaments, carrying each one in their hands; and when they went off they left behind (the ornaments) and disappeared.

Show example

Hide example

Synonyms: whakakorekore, mahuetanga, whakarere, whakakore, whākorekore, whakareretanga


2. (noun) inheritance, bequest, legacy.

Ko ana whakarerenga iho ko tana tamāhine me tana tama (TTR 2000:34). / His legacies are his daughter and his son.

Show example

Hide example

Synonyms: whakareretanga

momo whakaheke

1. (noun) inherited characteristic.

riro

1. (verb) to be gone, departed, set out.

Hoki rawa mai ki te puta o tōna tuna, mau ana ko te hāwareware kau anake, kua riro te tuna (W 1971:43). / When finally returning to the eel's hole, all that could be caught was the slime, the eel had gone.

Show example

Hide example

Synonyms: whakatikatika, whakatika, tīeke


2. (stative) be taken, awarded, won.

Kua tae te whakaatu ki a Tākuta Te Rangihīroa kua riro i a ia te paraihe a te Kura Nui o Ōtākou mō tana pukapuka i tuhituhia ai mō ngā mahi ā-ringa a te iwi Māori inamata (TTT 31/8/1921:7). / Notification has reached Dr Buck that he has won Otago University's award for his article written about the traditional Māori crafts.

Show example

Hide example


3. (stative) be got, acquired, obtained, earned.

I ngā tau e waru i riro i a Tame Pāna i runga i āna mahi motomoto e £40, 000 (TP 1/1909:9). / In eight years Tommy Burns earned £40, 000 from his boxing activities.

Show example

Hide example

Synonyms: kaitaonga


4. (stative) be inherited.

Ka mate te matua whāngai, e riro rānei te whenua o te tūpāpaku i te tamaiti whāngai? (TPH 30/8/1902:2). / When the foster parent dies, is the land of the deceased inherited by the foster child?

Show example

Hide example


5. (stative) it was left to - especially when followed by māku, māu, māna, mā māua, mā rātou etc and nāku, nāu, nāna, nā māua, nā rātou etc.

(Te Māhuri Textbook (Ed. 2): 62-63;)

Ka riro māku te poroporoaki. / It was left to me to do the farewell speech.
Ahakoa kāore anō ia kia takatū noa, i riro nāna tonu ia i ako ki ngā tikanga o te Hāhi, taringa whakarongo noa ai ki tana pāpā, haere rānei ki ngā rā i ngā wāhi e kaha ana te mau o te whakapono o te Hāhi Ringatū (TTR 1998:26). / Although he was unprepared, he taught himself the practices of the Church by just listening to his father or by attending the church days at the places where the Ringatū Church was strong.

Show example

Hide example


6. (modifier) at the extreme - follows locatives as an intensifier, e.g. runga, raro.

Ehara au i te hōkioi - hore rawa. E rere ana tēnā manu ki runga riro, mahue noa iho te kapua. Ko au ia, e rere kūpapa ana i te mata o te whenua (TPM 2/2/1863:2). / I am not the hōkio. That bird flies way up high, leaving behind even the clouds. But as for me, I fly low over the face of the earth.
Ko te mata o taua wai mārama kehokeho, otirā kei raro riro te takere o taua kōpua, e kore e tatū te aho (MM.TKM 27/1/1853:4). / The surface of that water is absolutely clear, but a line would never reach right down to the bottom of that deep pool.
Ko ētahi o ngā hē o Poi Hākena, ko te awa kore hei hoenga mai mō ngā kai, ā, he tawhiti nō ngā māra kei te mano whenua i uta riro (MM.TKM 27/11/1856:3). / Some of the problems of Sydney are the lack of rivers to transport produce and the remoteness of gardens in the heartland a long way inland.

Show example

Hide example

owha

1. (noun) relic, keepsake, gift, treasured bequest, inheritance.

He owha nā ōku tūpuna (JPS 1959:265). / A treasured bequest from my ancestors.

Show example

Hide example

Synonyms: whakaturi, manatunga, oha, whakamahara

whenua tuku iho

1. (noun) inherited land.

I te hokinga mai o William ki te kāinga ka mutu nei tana mahi hōia mā te ope taua o Aotearoa i tāwāhi, i tau ai te tokorua nei ki runga i ngā whenua tuku iho o Ngeungeu i Umupuia, i Waiariki, tae atu ki Pukekawa (TTR 2000:259). / When William returned home after serving overseas with the New Zealand Army, the couple settled on Ngeungeu’s inherited lands at Umupuia, Waiariki and Pukekawa.

Show example

Hide example

whakareretanga

1. (noun) inheritance, legacy.

Ko ana whakareretanga ake ko tana wahine, ko Raiha, ko ana tamāhine tokowhitu me ana tama tokorua. / He is survived by his wife, Raiha, his seven daughters and two sons.

Show example

Hide example

Synonyms: whakarerenga


2. (noun) reject, item thrown away.

Ko ēnei āporo ngā whakareretanga (Ng 1993:386). / These apples are the rejects.

Show example

Hide example

Synonyms: parahako, ākiri, kape, whakahoe, opa, whakarere


3. (noun) abandonment, desertion, leaving.

Nā tōna whakareretanga i Taurangaika i te tīmatanga o 1869 i mutu ai te whawhai ki te rohe o Whanganui (TTR 1990:263). / The fighting ceased in the Whanganui area in early 1869, after his abandonment of Taurangaika.

Show example

Hide example

Synonyms: whakakorekore, mahuetanga, whakarerenga, whakakore, whākorekore, whakarere

ipukarea

1. (noun) ancestral home, homeland, native land, inherited land - significant water or geographical feature of a tribe's homeland relating to the tribe's identity and the source of their livelihood. Describes a body of water within a vessel, a place that represents the history and emotional attachment of the tribe, a place central to the identity of the people where they can go to be rejuvenated, a place that represents the hopes and aspirations of the people, the lifegiving waters from which they drink. It is also the place associated with significant battles of the tribe and where the bones of their ancestors lie. As an example, Lake Waikaremoana is the ipukarea of Ngāi Tūhoe.

Ka whakahokahokai anō au kia topa iho i te ipukarea a Kahumatamomoe ki te riu o te waka Te Arawa (Wh4 2004:201). / I stretch out to soar down the ancestral homeland of Kahumatamomoe to the bilge of the Te Arawa canoe.

Show example

Hide example

See also Ipukarea, Te

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.

Show example

Hide example


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.

Show example

Hide example

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.

Show example

Hide example

Synonyms: mana whakahaere

whāngai

1. (verb) (-a,-hia,-nga,-tia) to feed, nourish, bring up, foster, adopt, raise, nurture, rear.


2. (modifier) fostered, adoptive, foster.

Ka mate te matua whāngai, e riro rānei te whenua o te tūpāpaku i te tamaiti whāngai?...Ko te tikanga Māori mō te tamaiti whāngai, ka hoki anō ki roto i ngā pānga o ōna mātua ake, i runga anō i te take huihui, i heke mai i roto i te tino take ki te whenua, kāore hoki te whāngai e tangohia i waho o ngā whakapapa me te toto (TPH 30/8/1902:2). / When the foster parent dies, is the land of the deceased inherited by the foster child?...In Māori custom an adopted child would fall back on the rights to the land shares of his/her birth parents which would occur in gatherings where the inheritance of land was passed on, and the foster child would not have rights outside genealogical and blood ties. (Statements by Īhāia Hūtana of Ngāti Kahungunu.)

Show example

Hide example

See also matua whāngai, mātua whāngai, tamaiti whāngai, whaea whāngai, tamariki whāngai


3. (noun) foster child, adopted child - this is a customary practice. Often a couple's first child was brought up by grandparents or adopted by one of the brothers or sisters of a parent, but almost always the foster child was a blood relation, usually a close relation. This practice continues today, but inheritance of land and property is not clear-cut. Sometimes the foster child would be entitled to inherit the foster father's property, especially if a child was adopted at birth and remained with the foster parents through to adulthood and looked after the adopted parent(s) in their old age. In this case the foster child would share the interests with any natural children. The rights of a foster child might be modified if an ōhākī (bequest) by the foster father had been made. Foster children always knew who their natural parents were.

Nō te whānautanga o Te Ataihaea, he kōtiro, kua hiahia tō mātau māmā kia riro mai i a ia hai whāngai māna (HP 1991:19). / When Te Ataihaea, a girl, was born our mother wanted to adopt her as a foster child.

Show example

Hide example

pā harakeke

1. (noun) flax bush, generations - sometimes used as a metaphor to represent the whānau and the gene pools inherited by children from their two parents and the passing of attributes down the generations.

He kupu whakarite te pā harakeke mō te whānau. Ko te rito i waenganui pū i te harakeke, koia tērā ko te tamaiti, ko ngā rau kei waho, ko ngā pakeke (Te Ara 2011). / The flax bush represents the family. The new leaf at its centre is the child, and leaves on the outside are older relatives.

Show example

Hide example

See also

New favourites & quiz!

The Te Aka Māori Dictionary mobile app now has the ability to sort your favourite words into folders. Plus, these folders can be turned into a quiz for a fun way to learn words and definitions. Download or update the app today!

iOS Android

The App

Te Aka Māori Dictionary is also available as an iOS and Android app. Download below.

iOS Android

The Book

Te Aka Māori-English, English-Māori Dictionary and Index by John C Moorfield comprises a selection of modern and everyday language that will be extremely useful for learners of the Māori language.

More info

He Pātaka Kupu

Te kai a te rangatira

He Pātaka Kupu is a monolingual Māori language dictionary, and was designed using its own culturally authentic terms.

Visit website

00:00