2. (noun) myth, ancient legend, story.
I a Hare e tamariki tonu ana, nā tōna pāpā i kōrero ki a ia ngā pūrākau mō ngā taniwha me ngā tohunga, he mea rongo e ia i ōna taipakeke i roto i te whare nui (TTR 2000:49). / When Harry was quite young his father told him stories of taniwha and tohunga he had heard from his old people in the meeting house.
Ka tuhituhia e ia he kōrero tara, he kōrero pūrākau hei mahi moni māna. / He wrote a story so he could earn some money.
niho pūrākau
1. (noun) premolar tooth.
Arā ngā niho kōhari, kei kō atu i ngā niho pūrākau (PK 2008:498). / There are the molars, on the far side of the premolars.
Synonyms: niho pū
whare pūrākau
1. (noun) school of learning where tohunga taught esoteric knowledge, rituals, karakia, history and creation narratives. A term used particularly by Ngāi Tahu for the whare wānanga.
Ka tōna riteka o te whare pūrākau, hei whakaako i kā tamariki rakatira kia mātau ki te taki tāhū, ki te karakia mō ruka i kā taumata whakaariki, karakia ruruku manawa mō te tūpāpaku ki te moe, ka hemo (MT 2011:81). / The purpose of the house of learning was to teach the chiefly children to know how to recite the direct lines of ancestry through the senior lines, to recite incantations to weaken approaching war-parties, and for restoring life to someone who is ill and has fallen unconscious.
Synonyms: whare kōrero
