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Filters

Idioms

Phrases

Proverbs

Loan words

Historical loan words

ruānuku

1. (noun) wise man, sage, old man.

He uri hikahika matua mai i a Te Kēmara, te tohunga matakite, tangata ruānuku nei o Ngā Puhi (TTR 2000:70). / A direct descendant of Te Kēmara, the seer and wise old man of Ngā Puhi.

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Synonyms: whakatuatea, hīnātore, mātauranga, wānanga, kokoro, tāua, nehe, pou, kaumātua, pēperekōu, koeke, korokoroua, koroheke, tauheke, koroua


2. (noun) alchemist.

hīnātore

1. (verb) to twinkle, glow with an unsteady light.


2. (noun) glimmer of light.

Ehara tāku i te ui makihoi, whakateka rānei, engari he tino whakamatemate kē nei nōku kia tau mai he māramatanga ki a au, kia paku hīnātore noa mai rānei (HM 3/1995). / Mine is not a rhetorical question, or a fabrication, but a real concern of mine to obtain some enlightenment, or even a glimmer of light.

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3. (noun) enlightened or wise person, sage.

He aituā, engari kua poropititia e ētahi o ngā hīnātore, ka pau i te ahi i taua wā (HP 1991:6). / It was a disaster but it had been prophesied by some of the wise men that it would be destroyed by fire at that time.

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Synonyms: ruānuku, whakatuatea, mātauranga, wānanga


4. (modifier) be phosphorescent, luminescent.


5. (noun) phosphorescence, phosphorus.

Tētahi mahi anō āna i ngā pō, he ūkuikui i ana ringa ki ngā māti o ērā wā, ka piri mai te hīnātore, ka pīataata katoa ana ringa - hei whakarite mō te Atua (TTR 1990:218). / One of the things he did at night was to rub his hands with the matches of those times and phosphorus would stick to them and his hands would glow - to represent God.

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Synonyms: porotītīwai, pūtūtaewhetū

wānanga

1. (verb) (-hia,-tia) to meet and discuss, deliberate, consider.

Nā te rūnanga i Pēria i whakahaere te kāwanatanga o te rohe, me te whakawā ina te wānangatia ki roto i te whare rūnanga (TTR 1990:321). / The council at Pēria provided local government and also dispensed justice, after discussion in the meeting house.

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2. (noun) seminar, conference, forum, educational seminar.

Ka whakawāteatia atu e ia tōna marae mō ngā wānanga me ngā huihuinga mātauranga (TTR 2000:118). / He offered his marae for educational seminars and gatherings.

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Synonyms: hui


3. (noun) tribal knowledge, lore, learning - important traditional cultural, religious, historical, genealogical and philosophical knowledge.

Kete tuauri, kete tuatea, kete aronui: Ko ngā kete o te wānanga i tīkina e Tāne i a Io-matua (M 2006:12). / Kit of sacred knowledge, kit of ancestral knowledge, kit of life's knowledge. These are the kits of knowledge that Tāne fetched from Io the-parent (M 2006:15).

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Synonyms: akoranga, tikanga tuku iho, tikanga


4. (noun) instructor, wise person, sage, authority, expert, guru, philosopher, savant.

Kīhai i tae ki ngā pūkenga, ki ngā wānanga, ki ngā tauira (W 1971:479). / It did not reach the repositories of knowledge, the wise people and the skilled people.

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Synonyms: ruānuku, whakatuatea, hīnātore, mātauranga


5. (noun) tertiary institution that caters for Māori learning needs - established under the Education Act 1990.

Ko te Wānanga o Raukawa kua tū hei whare wānanga mō te rangatahi Māori (Te Ara 2013). / Te Wānanga o Raukawa which has been established as a tribal centre of higher learning for young Māori.

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mātauranga

1. (noun) knowledge, wisdom, understanding, skill - sometimes used in the plural.

Ko ngā kaumātua e kaiponu ana i ngā kōrero e tika ana kia hāmenetia e mātou, e ngā tamariki, nō te mea he kōhuru tēnei i a mātou. Homai ngā kōrero me ngā mātauranga o mua hei taiaha mā mātou ki te patu i ngā Pākehā e kī nei he iwi kūare te Māori. Kaua e waiho mā ngā Pākehā e kōrero ngā tikanga Māori i roto i ngā nūpepa Pākehā, engari mā tātou, mā ngā Māori, e kōrero i roto i tā tātou nūpepa Māori, i 'Te Pipiwharauroa' (TP 10/1907:9). / It is right that the elders who are withholding information be censured by us, the children, because this is a treacherous abuse of custom against us. Provide us with the stories and the knowledge of the past as a weapon for us to combat the Pākehā who say that the Māori are an ignorant people. Don't leave it for the Pākehā to talk about Māori customs in English newspapers, but it's for us, the Māori, to talk about them in our Māori newspaper, 'Te Pipiwharauroa'. (From an article in Māori by Te Rangi Hīroa.)

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Synonyms: mōhio, mātau, mōhiotanga


2. (noun) education - an extension of the original meaning and commonly used in modern Māori with this meaning.

I te wā e tamariki ana koinā te mahurutanga o te tangata. Ko tēnā te wā hei whāwhātanga ki te mātauranga (TTT 1/2/1925:179). / During the time of childhood a person is untroubled. That's the time to tackle education.

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3. (noun) knowledgeable person, sage, scholar, intellectual, academic.

E ngā mātauranga katoa, tēnā koutou (TP 10/1905:6). / All knowledgeable people, greetings.

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Synonyms: ngaio, mōhio, hīnātore, ruānuku, wānanga, whakatuatea

whakatuatea

1. (verb) to grow anxious, be fearful, worry.

E whakatuatea ana ahau ki te mate o taku tamaiti (W 1971:447). / I am anxious about the illness of my child.

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2. (verb) to terrify, frighten.

Ki te kore e parea atu ēnei nuka a tērā o ngā reo, ka ngaro haere ngā whakatakoto Māori taketake ake, ā, ka rite te āhua o te reo Māori ki tō te reo Pākehā; ko ngā kupu noa iho ka āhua Māori mai. Whakatuatea ana tērā (HM 2/1994:9). / If these devices of that other language are not avoided, the genuine Māori phrasing will disappear and the nature of the Māori language will become like that of the English language; only the words will be Māori. That's frightening.

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3. (modifier) terrifying, terrorism, fearful.

Kua hīkina ngā whakapae whakatuatea i ngā pokohiwi o ngā tāngata tekau mā toru. / The terrorism charges on the shoulders of the thirteen people have been lifted.

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4. (noun) terror, terrorism.

Kua tukuna ngā tāngata tekau mā rima e whakapaetia nei mō te whakatuatea ki te kōti matua o te motu. / The fifteen people accused of terrorism have been sent to the country's supreme court.

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5. (noun) awe-inspiring leader, sage, mystic - a leader who, because of his great mana, is feared and respected.

I puta anō i ngā whārangi o tā Kere Nikora pukapuka ngā kupu whakanui mō Tāwhiao, mō Tōpia Tūroa, mō Meiha Te Wheoro, mō Pēhi Tūroa me ērā atu whakatuatea o te motu nei (KO 15/10/1884:5). / Words honouring Tāwhiao, Tōpia Tūroa, Major Te Wheoro, Pēhi Tūroa and other awe-inspiring leaders also appeared in the pages of Kerry Nicholls's book.

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Synonyms: ruānuku, hīnātore, mātauranga, wānanga

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