Hotu-te-ihi-rangi
1. (noun) a star.
See also Hotu
Puanga
1. (personal name) Rigel - the seventh brightest star in the sky and seen above Tautoru (Orion's Belt) in the eastern sky in early morning. With some iwi Puanga heralded the beginning of the Māori year.
Tākina mai rā ngā huihui o Matariki, Puanga, Tautoru, ka ngaro Atutahi māna e whakarewa te tini whetū riki ka rewa kei runga (TJ 11/5/1899:4). / The constellations of the Pleiades, Rigel, Orion rise and Canopus disappears and elevates the many small stars suspended above.
Synonyms: Puaka
whakakau
1. (verb) to make swim.
E whakakau ana i tētahi kuao hōiho i te ngutu awa o Nēpia i tētahi rangi kua taha ake nei, kātahi ka ngaua rawatia te pakihiwi e te mangō (TWMNT 1/3/1879:328). / While a foal was being swum from the Napier river mouth the other day, a shark tore its shoulder to shreds.
2. (verb) to come gradually into view, appear, rise (of stars and heavenly bodies).
Nō taua tau anō hoki i tukua atu ai e te rōpū kaitiaki mō te mahi whakangahau Māori o Aotearoa me te Kaporeihana o te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa he rōpū whakakite, toru tekau mā rima te nui, ki Osaka i Hapana kia whakakau ake ai i te whakaaturanga nei (TTR 2000:230). / In the same year, the New Zealand Māori Theatre Trust and the New Zealand Broadcasting Corporation sent a company of 35 performers to Osaka, Japan, to appear in this production.
kōwhitinga
1. (noun) selection, choice.
He kōwhitinga noa tēnei o ētahi o ngā kīwaha ka rangona e koe. / This is just a selection of some of the colloquialisms that you will hear.
Synonyms: tīpakonga, tīpako, kōwae, kōwhiringa, whiringa
2. (noun) appearance (of stars and the moon), rising, appearing as the new moon.
Whakatangihia tō tētere i te kōwhitinga o te marama (KO 18/5/1887:10). / Blow you flax trumpet when the new moon rises.
Puaka
1. (personal noun) Rigel - South Island variation of Puanga - the seventh brightest star in the sky and seen above Tautoru (Orion's Belt) in the eastern sky in early morning.
Synonyms: Puanga
Ō-tama-rākau
1. (personal name) Fomalhaut - the brightest star in the constellation Piscis Austrinus. Its appearance marked the beginning of the lunar month of Poutū-te-rangi (March).
See also Ōtamarākau
whetū
1. (noun) star - sometimes also used for other celestial bodies, e.g. comets. Stars were observed carefully as they were important indicators of time and particular stars and star clusters were omens of aspects of life, including crop success.
(Te Kōhure Textbook (Ed. 2): 165-180;)
I kī rā ahau he tohu aua whetū. Koia nei hoki te kāpehu a ō tātou tūpuna i whakawhiti mai ai i Hawaiki (TTT 1/7/1922:3). / I have stated that those were navigational stars. they were the compass of our ancestors who migrated here from Hawaiki.
E kore pea te tangata e whakapono ki te kīia atu e 640 māero te tere o taua whetū i te hēkene kotahi (TP 1/6/1901:11). / A person would probably never believe it if it was said that the speed of that comet was 640 miles per second.
Te Tahi o Pipiri ka puta ō tātou mātua, tūpuna, ki waho i te atapō, i te whā o ngā hāora ki te titiro i te putanga o ngā whetū, nō te mea kei aua whetū te mōhiotia ai te tau pai te tau kino, kei tēnei whetū kei a Matariki, ka nunui ngā whetū he tau pai mō ngā ika. Kei aua whetū kei a Puanga, kei a Matariki (HKW 1/4/1899:4). / In June our elders go outside before dawn at 4 am to look at the stars, because those stars would inform them as to whether it would be a good or bad year and if the stars of the Pleiades were large it would be a good year for fishing. Those stars were Rigel and the Pleiades.
2. (noun) asterisk.
Hiwa-i-te-rangi
1. (personal noun) Calaeno - one of the stars in Te Kāhui o Matariki, the Pleiades star cluster. Sometimes shortened to just Hiwa. A star that Māori would send their dreams and desires to in the hope that they would be realised. Said by some to be the daughter of Matariki and was taken by the star Ioio-whenua as his wife.
Waihoki, e rua atu anō ngā whetū o Matariki ka tautuhia e Te Kōkau e iwa ai te katoa o te kāhui. Ko ēnei whetū, ko Pōhutukawa rāua ko Hiwa-i-te-rangi (Matariki 2017:22). / Furthermore, Te Kōkau identifies two other stars in Matariki, giving nine altogether in the cluster. These stars are Pōhutukawa (Sterope) and Hiwa-i-te-rangi (Calaeno).
Waipunarangi
1. (personal noun) Electra - one of the stars in Te Kāhui o Matariki, the Pleiades star cluster. Sometimes as Waipuna-a-rangi. A star associated with rain.
E hāngai ana a Waipunarangi ki te ua, ā, ki te ākahukahu te āhua o te whetū nei, ka kaha kē atu te hekenga o te ua i taua tau i ō ētahi atu, ā, he waipuke ka matapaetia. Heoi, pēnā ka pīata, ka mārama hoki tōna āhua, ka iti iho te hekenga o te ua i taua tau i ō ētahi atu tau (Matariki 2017:60). / Waipunarangi is concerned with rain and if this star has an indistinctive appearance then the rainfall that year will be greater than in other years, and floods will be predicted. However, if it is bright and clearly visible the rainfall that year will be less than normal.
Ururangi
1. (personal noun) Merope - one of the stars in Te Kāhui o Matariki, the Pleiades star cluster. A star that determines the nature of the winds for the year.
E ai ki a Te Kōkau, ko Matariki te whetū nui katoa o roto i te kāhui. Kīia ai hoki tēnei whetū ko te ‘kaiwhakahaere’ o ērā atu. Ka tohua hoki e Te Kōkau ērā atu whetū e ono: ko Tupuānuku rātau ko Tupuārangi, ko Waitī, ko Waitā, ko Waipunarangi, ko Ururangi. Waihoki, e rua atu anō ngā whetū o Matariki ka tautuhia e Te Kōkau e iwa ai te katoa o te kāhui. Ko ēnei whetū, ko Pōhutukawa rāua ko Hiwa-i-te-rangi (Matariki 2017:22). / According to Te Kōkau, Matariki (Alcyone) is the largest star in the cluster. This star is referred to as the ‘conductor’ of the others. Te Kōkau also identifies the other six stars: Tupuānuku (Pleione), Tupuārangi (Atlas), Waitī (Maia), Waitā (Taygeta), Waipunarangi (Electra) and Ururangi (Merope). Furthermore, Te Kōkau identifies two other stars in Matariki, giving nine altogether in the cluster. These stars are Pōhutukawa (Sterope) and Hiwa-i-te-rangi (Calaeno).
Tupuārangi
1. (personal noun) Atlas - one of the stars in Te Kāhui o Matariki, the Pleiades star cluster. A star associated with food that comes from the sky, such as birds, or elevated fruit and berries from trees.
Ko Tupuārangi te whetū e hono ana i te kāhui ki te hopukanga o ngā manu me ngā hua rāngaingai, pēnei i ngā hua me ngā patatini o ngā rākau (Matariki 2017:29). / Tupuārangi is the star connecting the constellation to the capturing of birds and elevated fruit, such as fruit and berries of trees.
Waitī
1. (personal noun) Maia - one of the stars in Te Kāhui o Matariki, the Pleiades star cluster. A star connected to fresh water and the creatures that live in rivers, streams and lakes.
E hono ana a Waitī ki te wai māori me ngā koiora katoa o ngā awa, o ngā manga, o ngā roto anō hoki (Matariki 2017:29-30). / Waitī (Maia) is connected to fresh water and all life of the rivers, streams and lakes.
Tupuānuku
1. (personal noun) Pleione - one of the stars in Te Kāhui o Matariki, the Pleiades star cluster. A star associated with food that is grown in the ground, for example, kūmara.
E hono ana a Tupuānuku ki ngā kai e tipu ana i te whenua (Matariki 2017:27). / Tupuānuku is connected to the food grown in the ground.
Pōhutukawa
1. (personal noun) Sterope - one of the stars in Te Kāhui o Matariki, the Pleiades star cluster. A female star that connects Matariki to the dead.
Waihoki, e rua atu anō ngā whetū o Matariki ka tautuhia e Te Kōkau e iwa ai te katoa o te kāhui. Ko ēnei whetū, ko Pōhutukawa rāua ko Hiwa-i-te-rangi (Matariki 2017:22). / Furthermore, Te Kōkau identifies two other stars in Matariki, giving nine altogether in the cluster. These stars are Pōhutukawa (Sterope) and Hiwa-i-te-rangi (Calaeno).
Waitā
1. (personal noun) Taygeta - one of the stars in Te Kāhui o Matariki, the Pleiades star cluster. A star associated with food harvested from the sea.
E hono ana a Waitī rāua ko Waitā ki te kai me te wai; he tāne tētahi, he wahine tētahi. Ko te take kei runga ake a Waitī i a Waitā, he heke nō te wai māori ki te wai tai i ngā wā katoa, koirā te take kei ō rāua wāhi rāua e iri ana i te rangi (Matariki 2017:33). / Waitī (Maia) and Waitā (Taygeta) are associated with food and water; one is male and the other female. The reason that Waitī is situated above Waitā is because fresh water always flows down to salt water, that’s the reason for their positions in the sky.
Tariao
1. (noun) leader of the Pai Mārire faith and also the name of a religious movement in Waikato. Between 1875 and 1876 the Kingitanga modified its religious expression when it adopted the Tariao faith. This combined Pai Mārire prayers with new forms of ritual. The Tariao were ministers of the new faith. Tawhiao, the second Māori king, was the head Tariao.
Kaua koutou ngā iwi Maori e rongo ki ngā kōrero pōtatu o aua karakia Tariao (TW 19/8/1876:306). / You, the Māori tribes, should not listen to the distracting words of the Tariao prayers.
2. (personal noun) star in the Milky Way - sometimes called the Morning Star.
I te tau 1875, i naomia atu e ia te Pai Mārire hei whakapono mō te Kīngitanga, engari kia rite ki tāna i hiahia ai, kātahi ka whakaingoatia ko Tariao (te whetū i te ata) (TTR 1994:133). / During 1875 he adopted the Pai Mārire religion as the faith of the King movement, but his own version of it, and then he called it Tariao (the morning star).
kapu parahua rahi
1. (noun) inflated cushion star, Stegnaster inflatus - a rare species of echinoderm, similar to the common cushion star, but larger, thicker, arched in the middle and more brilliantly coloured buff, orange, orange-vermilion, purple or greyish-green. Found from Hauraki Gulf to Timaru.
