mū
1. (noun) insect.
Koia nei te tīmatanga o ngā mea katoa i te ao nei, ahakoa tarutaru, rākau, kōhatu, ngā ika, ngā manu, ngā ngārara, ngā pāpā, ngā pūwerewere, ngā mū, ngā pūrerehua (W 1971:213). / That is the beginning of all things in this world, whether it be vegetation, trees, rocks, fish, birds, reptiles, geckos, spiders, insects or moths.
kata
1. (verb) (-ina) to laugh at.
E kore e roa rawa ka kataina e ā tātou tamariki, e ā tātou mokopuna rānei, tō tātou whakapono ki ngā mea horihori noa, ki ngā mahi o te kūwaretanga (TKO 11/1920:5). / It will not be very long before we will be laughed at by our children, or grandchildren, for our belief in these false things, and are done out of ignorance.
Synonyms: katakata
2. (verb) to laugh.
Synonyms: mimingo kata, mingo kata, mingomingo kata, ngingio
3. (verb) to chirp, twitter, chirrup (of birds and insects) - any sound made by a bird or insect that sounds like laughter.
Ka kata a Tīwaiwaka, ka kūtia a Māui, mate tonu atu (M 2006:206). / Fantail chirped, Māui was squeezed and was killed.
4. (noun) laughter.
Ko ngā tāngata katoa i reira, he tokomaha tonu rātau, ka ūmere me te kata (HP 1991:20). / Everybody there, and there were quite a few, made raucous applause with laughter.
2. (noun) praying mantis, New Zealand praying mantis, Orthodera novaezealandiae - green, insect-eating insect with two large eyes. The native species has a bright blue-and-purple patch on the inside of its front legs.
Synonyms: whē
3. (noun) insect, beetle.
Ko te kupu ‘pepeke’, mō te kakama o te nekeneke haere. Mō ngā ngārara katoa te karangatanga nei (Te Ara 2012). / The word 'pepeke' means to move quickly, and this term is used for all insects.
See also aitanga pepeke, aitanga-a-pēpeke
4. (noun) branch, limb.
6. (noun) prickly dogfish, Oxynotus bruniensis - has a deep humpbacked body, triangular in cross-section and a trunk snout. Widespread in Aotearoa/New Zealand waters at depths of 45-1120 m.
2. (noun) stick insect (of several species).
See also rō
4. (noun) soft tree fern, Cyathea smithii - native tree fern with very soft, pale horizontal fronds that leave a distinctive short skirt of dried stalks on older trees. Common in colder, wetter forests.
See also kātote
5. (noun) small person, dwarf.
ngaro
1. (noun) blowfly, houseflies of various species, insect - in connection with mākutu the fly represented the life or spirit of the person involved.
Ko te ōkiha kua ngaua e taua ngaro, he mea anō ka hīrori, pērā me te kau kua kai i te tutu nei i tēnei motu i a tātou nei, ā ka pohe ngā kanohi, ka mate (TWMNT 21/4/1874:94). / The steer that has been bitten by this insect, will later stagger around, like a cow which has eaten tutu in this country which goes blind and dies.
See also ngarongaro
wero
1. (verb) (-hia,-ngia) to pierce, spear, challenge, stab, poke, jab, bite, puncture, sting (of an insect), inject.
Ko tētahi mea hē rawa, ko te raweke a ētahi o ā rāua tamariki i ngā kēne whurutu, arā, he mea wero ngā tini, kātahi ka unumia te wai, ka whakahokia ki runga i ngā whata (TTR 1996:60). / One problem was that some of their children would meddle with the cans of fruit, that is they would puncture the tins, drink the juice and put them back on the shelves.
2. (noun) piercing, stabbing, injection, spine (of a stingray).
E kīia ana ka mutu te wero ki te peneti ka hurihia ko ngā raparapa o ngā pū hei patu haere i te hoariri (TKO 8/1915:4). / It is said that when the stabbing with the bayonet ended the guns were reversed to kill the enemy with the butt of the gun.
Synonyms: kōtaratara, werowero, tīwharawhara, pākinakina
3. (noun) bite, sting (of an insect, etc.).
E te mate kei hea tōu wero? (PT I Koroniti 15:55). / O death, where is thy sting?
4. (noun) challenge.
Hei ētahi wā anō hoki kua kuhuna he kōrero hei whakakata i ngā kaiwhakarongo, engari, he wero anō kei roto i ngā kōrero (Rewi 2005:64). / And sometimes a story was added to make the listeners laugh, but there would be a challenge in the words.
5. (noun) challenge at a pōhiri.
Kei te haere te ruri, ka kōkiri a Nehe Te Wehi o Tūranga me te wero ki te Kuīni (TWK 19:31). / While the short song was being performed, Nehe Te Wehi darted forward with the challenge to the Queen.
pihareinga
1. (loan) (noun) black field cricket, Teleogryllus commodus - flatish black insect active at night in summer when its loud high-pitched chirping is heard. Common from Kaikōura north in grassland. The Māori name probably derives from ‘bushranger’, an early New Zealand term for this species of introduced insect.
Engari, ko te pihareinga kei te noho mārire, mō te raumati ka tangi ai (TWM 22/8/1863:2). / But the black cricket hibernates and chirps in the summer.
areinga
1. (noun) black field cricket, Teleogryllus commodus - flatish black insect active at night in summer when its loud high-pitched chirping is heard. Common from Kaikōura north in grassland. The Māori name probably derives from ‘bushranger’, an early New Zealand term for this species of introduced insect.
See also pihareinga
pāpapa
1. (noun) eggshell, husk, chaff, bran.
(Te Māhuri Study Guide (Ed. 1): 27;)
He uru hua rākau rahi anō tō rāua, ā, e 60 eka te rahi o te whenua whakatipu ōti, whakatipu pāri, hai pāpapa whāngai i ngā hōiho (TTR 1998:159). / They had a large orchard and 60 acres growing oats and barley to make chaff to feed the horses.
2. (noun) squash, kamokamo - a variety of vegetable marrow. This word seems to be peculiar to the northern Ngāti Kahungunu region.
He pēnā anō ngā tōhuka, ngā kānga, ngā pāpapa, ngā merengi, ngā kākāriki, ngā taro me ngā rīwai (HP 1991:14). / The sugar cane, maize, kamokamo, melons, rock melons, taro and potatoes were exactly the same.
3. (noun) beetle - used as a general term for beetles.
E whā ngā momo pāpapa i mau i a mātau (Ng 1995:30). / We caught four kinds of beetles.
4. (noun) common tiger beetle, Cicindela tuberculata, Neocicindela tuberculata - an endemic tiger beetle to Aotearoa/New Zealand. Adults are ground predators and larvae may live for several years in a hole in the ground, and grab and eat passing insects. Adults are commonly seen on clay banks in summer, running around and making short flights as they hunt other insects.
6. (noun) slater, pill bug, sow bug, woodlice - terrestrial Isopoda which vary slightly in appearance, but most are conspicuous and easily recognised by their elliptical, flattened segmented bodies, and seven pairs of legs. Colour is usually in the shades of grey, from dark to light, often mottled with green and yellow. Aotearoa/New Zealand slaters range in size from several millimetres to more than 2 cm in length. Slaters are mainly scavengers, feeding on a variety of decaying vegetation, tree bark, rotting wood, etc.
7. (noun) gumdiggers' soap, golden Tainui, kūmarahou, Pomaderris kumeraho - a native shrub with alternating, blue-green leaves on top and undersides pale with protruding veins. Flowers are creamy yellow in large, fluffy clusters. The whole plant is covered in a soft mat of hair. Found north of Bay of Plenty and Kāwhia.
See also kūmarahou
Synonyms: kūmara rau nui, kūmarahou
8. (noun) koropuka, bush snowberry, fool's beech, Gaultheria antipoda - native bushy shrub bearing rounded small leathery toothed leaves on hairy twigs. Hairs on twigs black mixed with shorter paler hairs. Flowers white, bell-shaped, solitary at base of leaf. Leaves alternating on stem, 7-10mm long by 6-10mm wide, sometimes much smaller at tip of twig, Fruit red or white.
See also koropuka
Synonyms: koropuka, takapo, tāwiniwini, taupuku
kapokapowai
1. (noun) dragonflies of various species - a fast-flying, long-bodied predatory insect with two pairs of large transparent wings which are spread out sideways at rest.
See also kapowai
keha
1. (verb) to be foul-smelling, smelly, nauseating.
Ki te kore e āta horoia ngā niho me ngā pae, tērā pea ka pā he mate ki ngā pae - ka pupuhi, ka wherowhero, ka mamae, ā, ka keha anō te hā (HJ 2012:262). / If the teeth and gums aren't cleaned properly, problems might occur with the gums - they'll swell, become red and painful, and the breath will be foul-smelling.
Synonyms: paratoketoke
2. (noun) flea - tiny, jumping, wingless, blood-sucking insects which look as though they have been flattened sideways.
He rite tonu te rakuraku a te kurī i te kaikainga e te keha. / The dog is continually scratching because of the biting by the fleas.
See also puruhi
3. (noun) ulcer, sore.
He mea kōmekemeke ngā rau hei tākai mō ngā keha, mō te mate paipai hoki (Te Ara 2011). / Leaves were pounded and applied as a poultice for ulcers and venereal disease.
4. (noun) turnip, Brassica rapa, turnip-like plants.
Nui rawa atu te tupu o tērā keha, o te pīti ki Niu Tireni nei (MM 22/9/1853:2). / That turnip-like plant, the beetroot grows very well in New Zealand.
kikipounamu
1. (noun) katydid, Caedicia simplex - a common green insect found on garden shrubs, well-camouflaged by its leaf-like shape and the leaf-vein patterns on its wings. It can jump or fly.
(Te Māhuri Study Guide (Ed. 1): 73;)
He koronga nōku kia tae au ki ngā uru kahika, ki Ohui, ki Oama, kia kata noa mai te kīkītara, kotikotipa, ē, kōhurehure, kikipounamu (M 2004:86). / I have a desire to reach the kahikatea groves at Ohui and Oama, so that the cicada, the rifleman and the katydid may laugh.
namu
1. (noun) sandfly of various species, black flies, Austrosimulium spp. - tiny, blackish, hump-backed, biting insects. The females need to suck blood for their eggs to mature.
(Te Māhuri Study Guide (Ed. 1): 58-59;)
Ka kī te waeroa ki tōna taina, ki te namu, 'Me waiho kia ahiahi ka haere ai tāua hei wheowheo taringa, hei hohō taringa.' (W 1971:54) / The mosquito said to its junior relation, the sandfly, 'We should wait until it's evening and then go to hum and buzz the ears.'
2. (noun) vagina, female genitals, vulva.
Ko te whakaputanga o te tamaiti i te namu o te whaea ki te aotūroa (W 1971:217). / The progressive movement of the child through the vagina of the mother into the enduring world.
