Filters

Idioms

Phrases

Proverbs

Loan words

Historical loan words

Filters

Idioms

Phrases

Proverbs

Loan words

Historical loan words

tāonga pūtētere

1. (noun) wind musical instrument, brass musical instrument.

He whakarōpūtanga taonga puoro nā te Pākehā te taonga pūtētere, ka puta te reo i te tāwariwari o ngā ngutu o te kaiwhakatangitangi me te pupuhi atu i te hau ki roto i te pū o te taonga, ki reira tōiriiri mai ai. Mā te whakarerekē i te roa o te pū e piki ai, e heke ai rānei te tangi (RTP 2015:88). / A wind instrument is a western classification of musical instruments where sound is produced from the vibration of the players' lips blowing into the tube of the instrument, where the sound is resonated. By changing the length of the tube the pitch is heightened or lowered (RTP 2015:88).

Show example

Hide example

pēne

1. (loan) (noun) band (musical).

E whā ōna pēne, (he pāna ki ētahi iwi) (TP 12/1900:5). / He has four bands (for some tribes the word pāna is used for 'band').

Show example

Hide example

Synonyms: ika, tokomatua, hokowhitu


2. (loan) (noun) drum (musical instrument).

Whakahīhī ana tā mātau whakatangi haere i ā mātau pūtōrino, me te patu i ā mātau pēne e rua (HP 1991:33). / We proudly walked along playing our flutes and beating our two drums.

Show example

Hide example

rehu

1. (noun) long traditional flute - with a closed top and a transverse blowing hole and finger holes like a pōrutu.

(Te Māhuri Textbook (Ed. 2): 168;)

Ko ngā wheua o te hunga maitai i patua nei he mea mahi hei tīrou kai, ā, ko ngā wheua o ngā hūhā he mea mahi hei tōrino, arā, hei rehu (TAH 51:17). / The bones of the foreigners who had been killed were made into forks for picking up food, and the thigh bones were made into flutes.

Show example

Hide example


2. (noun) recorder (musical instrument) - probably best distinguished from the traditional flute described above by adding the word Pākehā.

tangi hē

1. (verb) to be out of tune, flat (of a musical instrument).

Āta tiakina te kitā, kia kore ai e te tangi i mua i tā tātou waiata (RTP 2015:55). / Look after the guitar carefully so that it won't go out of tune before our song.

Show example

Hide example


2. (noun) out of tune, flat (of a musical instrument).

I tino rangona te tangi hē o te tōiri (RTP 2015:55). / It could be clearly heard that the violin was out of tune.

Show example

Hide example

puoro

1. (verb) to sing.

Kua whaikōrero a Tame, he korokoro tūī, engari kia puoro, e tama, kua reo poraka tonu atu! (PK 2008:714). / When Tom gives a speech he is like the throat of a tūī, but when he sings, heavens, he has the voice of a frog!

Show example

Hide example

Synonyms: toiere, kitā, tau, maire, tangi, pao, umere, whakakitā, korokī, korihi, waiata


2. (noun) song, music, musical instrument.

(Te Māhuri Textbook (Ed. 2): 162-171; Te Māhuri Audio Tapes/CDs (Ed. 2): exercise 23;)

Noho rite ana te momo puoro o te waiata nei ki te pūoru o Hawai‘i, ā, ko ngā taputapu whakatangitangi ko te kitā, ko te ukurere me tētahi kitā pona maitai atu hoki (TTR 2000:96). / The music style of this song was music of Hawai‘i, and instruments included the guitar, ukulele and lap-steel guitar.

Show example

Hide example

Synonyms: pūoru, taonga whakatangitangi, taonga puoro, whakatangi

1. (noun) (musical instrument) string.


2. (noun) syllable.

tarakimere

1. (noun) vibrating leaf instrument - formed by clamping a small leaf between two slivers of wood. These are placed between the lips and by blowing the leaf will vibrate as a rudimentary reed. The rangi (tunes) of mōteatea (traditional chants) can be played on tarakimere.

tīrango

1. (noun) sound-pitching instrument - swung around the head like a pūrerehua. Made by bending a thin piece of kareao (supplejack stem) in the form of a bow and fastening to its two ends as a bowstring a strip of the base of a raupō leaf. A short cord is attached to one end of the bow and when the tīrango is swung through the air it produces the sound from the vibration of the thin edge of the raupō leaf. The sound is similar to that of the rango (blowfly), hence the name.

1. (verb) to make a low inarticulate sound, coo.

mai ana ngā kūkupa, kū atu ana te tamaiti (PK 2008:350). / The pigeons cooed and the child cooed back.

Show example

Hide example


2. (noun) one-stringed bow-like instrument - played by tapping with a stick while using the mouth cupped over the string as a modifying resonator. It was made of supplejack with a muka string, which was also plucked and scraped.

(Te Māhuri Textbook (Ed. 2): 166;)

Nā, ka tae te mahi, he , he pākuru, he tō, he pūtōrino, he kōauau, he tōrehe, he tī papaki ringa, he porotiti, he kaupeka - kāore a Kae i kata (JPS 1928:270). / So they tried playing kū, pākuru, tō, pūtōrino, kōauau, tōrehe, hand-clapping, porotiti, and kaupeka - but Kae did not laugh.

Show example

Hide example

taonga puoro

1. (noun) musical instrument.

(Te Māhuri Textbook (Ed. 2): 162-171; Te Kōhure Video Tapes (Ed. 1): 2;)

Ko ngā reo o ētahi o ngā taonga puoro i ahu mai i ngā tangi o ngā ngārara, o ngā manu, o ngā wai, o ngā rākau me ngā hau o te taiao (TWK 41:14). / The voices of the musical instruments come from the sounds of insects, birds, the water, trees and the winds of the environment.

Show example

Hide example

Synonyms: taonga whakatangitangi, puoro, whakatangi

taonga whakatangitangi

1. (noun) musical instrument.

(Te Māhuri Textbook (Ed. 2): 162-171; Te Kōhure Video Tapes (Ed. 1): 2;)

He maha ngā taonga whakatangitangi ka whakamahi rātou, pērā i te pūawanui me te pūtohe (Te Ara 2013). / They have a range of instruments that they play, including the trumpet and the saxophone.

Show example

Hide example

Synonyms: taonga puoro, puoro, whakatangi

whakatangi

1. (verb) (-hia) to cause to sound, to play (a musical instrument), cause to cry.

Whakahīhī ana tā mātau whakatangi haere i ā mātau pūtōrino (HP 1991:33). / We proudly played our flutes as we marched along.

Show example

Hide example


2. (noun) playing (of an instrument).

Te Kāhui Tau, Rau-kata-uri, Rau-kata-mea: Ki ētahi kōrero ko te pūtake mai rāua o ngā mahi ngahau, o ngā mahi o te rēhia, o te harakoa. Ki ētahi kōrero he tuāhine nō Tinirau. Ko rāua ētahi o ngā wahine nāna i whakangahau i kitea ai te niho o Kae (Ngae, Kaunihoniho ki ētahi). Koia Te Kāhui Tau, mō te waiata, mō te whakatangi, mō te haka (M 2006:232). / Te Kāhui Tau, Rau-kata-uri, Rau-kata-mea: According to some accounts the latter two were the origin of the arts of amusement, entertainment, and pleasure. According to some they were sisters of Tini-rau. They were among the women who entertained and caused Kae to show his teeth (Ngae, Kau-nihoniho according to some). The term Kāhui (a tribal designation) Tau pertains to these two, and those who sing, play on instruments, or do posture dances (M 2006:233).

Show example

Hide example

Synonyms: whakatangitangi


3. (noun) musical instrument.

Nā te Pākehā katoa ēnei whakatangi, engari pea ngā tīpuna o Ngāti Whātua i whakatangi rōria inā hoki he kāinga tō rātou ko Tangi-te-rōria te ingoa (TTT 1/2/1930:1976). / These instruments all belong to the Pākehā, but the ancestors of Ngāti Whātua probably played the Jew's harp because they had a village called Tangi-te-rōria.

Show example

Hide example

Synonyms: taonga whakatangitangi, taonga puoro, puoro

taonga pūoru

1. (noun) musical instrument.

poro rākau

1. (noun) block of wood, log.

Kua hītengitengi te whare ki runga i ngā poro rākau - taihoa ka tōia ki wāhi kē (PK 2008:117). / The house has been raised up on logs - soon it will be hauled to somewhere else.

Show example

Hide example

Synonyms: rōku, poro


2. (noun) claves (musical instrument).


3. (noun) wooden blocks (toy).

taonga pūhau

1. (noun) woodwind musical instrument.

He whakarōpūtanga taonga puoro nā te Pākehā te taonga pūhau, ka puta ōna oro i te pupuhi hau ki te tapa o tētahi puare, hei whakatōiri rānei i tētahi tohetohe. Ka tōiriiri te hau ki roto i te tinana o te taonga pūhau, mā konei e puta ai tōna reo. Ko te roa o te tinana hei whakatau i te tīkā, i te mārū rānei o te tangi. Ko ngā matimati hei poki i ngā wenewene o te taonga e piki ai, e heke ai rānei te tangi (RTP 2015:77). / Woodwind instrument is a western classification of musical instruments that produce sound by blowing air on the edge of a hole, or by blowing air causing a reed to vibrate. The air in the body of the instrument vibrates which produces the sound, and the length of the instrument determines the pitch. Covering and uncovering the finger holes of the instrument heightens or lowers the pitch.

Show example

Hide example

pūkeru

1. (noun) organ (musical instrument).

He taonga puoro te pūkeru, he papa patooro tōna. E toru ngā momo pūkeru matua, ko te pūkeru paipa – ka puta tōna reo i te pupuhi o te hau ki roto paipa; ko te pūkeru tohetohe – ka puta tōna reo i te tōiriiri o te tohetohe; ko te pūkeru tāhiko – ka puta tōna reo i te ara iahiko me te tukuoro (RTP 2015:82). / An organ is a musical instrument with a keyboard. There are three main types of organ – the pipe organ, whose sound is produced by air moving through pipes; the reed organ, whose sound is produced by vibrating reeds; and the electronic organ, whose sound is produced by an electronic circuit and a loudspeaker (RTP 2015:82).

Show example

Hide example

herenga aho

1. (noun) bridge (stringed musical instrument).

katokato

1. (verb) (-hia) to pluck repeatedly, break off, pick, pluck (a musical instrument).

Ko te haerenga atu o Tamatekapua i runga i āna poutoti, ka tīmata te katokato i ngā hua o te poroporo (TWK 3:14). / Tamatekapua went on his stilts and began picking the fruit of the breadfruit tree.

Show example

Hide example

Synonyms: pika, kato, kōwhiti, whawhati, kōwhiri, whiriwhiri, kōhiti


2. (noun) plucking (a musical instrument).

Ka puta tōna reo mā te katokato i te au, mā te raraku, mā te pākuru rānei ki tētahi rākau iti (RTP 2015:47). / Its voice emerges by plucking the string, by strumming, or by striking it with a small stick.

Show example

Hide example

tumutumu

1. (noun) stump, post, pole, stake, foundation.

Nō te hāpaitanga ake o taua tumutumu nei, i a rātou anō e tapahi ana i ngā paiaka o raro, ka kitea te ngārahu me ētahi toki kōhatu nei e takoto ana i roto (TWMNT 9/2/1875:34). / When they were lifting the stump up, and while they were cutting the roots underneath, they discovered charcoal and some stone adzes lying inside.

Show example

Hide example

Synonyms: koteo, tokotoko, toko, tiripou, turupou, tumu, pōra, poupou, pou, tīrou, tōpito o te ao, pōhi, turuturu, pōhi, pouihi


2. (noun) beater, striker - ancient musical instrument made of stone or wood used to set rhythms for chanting.

(Te Māhuri Textbook (Ed. 2): 166;)

He taonga o nehe te tumutumu hei taki ūngeri i te taha o te karakia. Ka hangaia ki te kōhatu, te kōiwi, te rākau rānei (RTP 2015:73). / The tumutumu is an ancient instrument to beat the rhythm for a ritual chant. They are made of stone, bone or wood.

Show example

Hide example

paparipa

1. (noun) fretboard (of a musical instrument).

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