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Idioms

Phrases

Proverbs

Loan words

Historical loan words

whare tapere

1. (noun) house of entertainment, theatre, community centre, arena, auditorium - traditionally a place where people gathered for entertainment.

I tū te whakaaturanga reo Māori a He Huia Kaimanawa ki te whare tapere o Te Rauparaha i Porirua i te 15-16 o Whiringa-ā-nuku 2009 (HM 4/2009:5). / The Māori language expo, He Huia Kaimanawa, was held at the Te Rauparaha Arena in Porirua on the 15-16 October 2009.

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Tapere-wai

1. (personal noun) fourth lunar month of the Māori year, approximately equivalent to September and traditionally used by Ngāti Kahungunu.

See also Mahuru

hōiki

1. (adjective) tapering.

kōekoeko

1. (stative) be tapering to a point.

He hanga kōekoeko te wāhanga o te aihikirīmi ka puritia e te ringa (PK 2008:273). / The part of the ice cream that is held by the hand tapers to a point.

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hema

1. (verb) to bevel, chamfer.

I hema te tao ki te koi rānō (Ng 1993:473). / The spear tapered to a point.

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2. (adjective) be tapering.

He kōkau te tipu o te tangata, he tipu rahirahi, he hema ngā ateate (JPS 1926:245), / Physically the people are lean, they are thin and the calves taper.

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3. (noun) left hand.

Ko tōku hema taku ringaringa kaha. / My left hand is my strong hand.

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Synonyms: ringa whāngai, ringa mauī, mauī

kāwetoweto

1. taper, diminish in size.

Ka kāwetoweto haere te tinana o te tuna mai i ngā paihau tae noa ki te pito o te hiku. / The body of an eel tapers from the fins right to the end of the tail.

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kātoatoa

1. (stative) be contracted, shrunk, tapering.

Whatua mai te aho kia kāwitiwiti, kia kātoatoa mō te oti wawe, e hine! (M 2005:294). / For an earlier completion, weave the cross threads so that they taper and contract, my girl!

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Synonyms: kōmae, taramore, tīangoango, pāohe, pīngongo, paroparo, pakoko, piako

koeko

1. (adjective) be tapering to a point.


2. (modifier) tapering, coming to a point.

He anga koeko tō te papatai (PK 2008:273). / The turret shell has a shell that tapers to a point.

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3. (noun) cone, pyramid.

Ka rite te āhua o tērā maunga ki te koeko. / The shape of that mountain is like a cone.
Ko te koeko tētahi āhua ahu-3, he taparau, he porowhita rānei te pūtake, ā, ka tūtaki ērā atu o ngā mata ki tētahi pūwāhi kotahi (TRP 2010:152). / A cone is a three-dimensional shape which has a polygon or circle as its base, and all the other faces meet at a point (TRP 2010:152).

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4. (noun) spire, steeple.

He rīpeka kei te pito whakarunga o te koeko o tērā whare karakia e whakakeo nei ki runga ki te rangi. / There is a cross at the top of the spire of that church rising to a sharp peak up in the sky.

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kawiti

1. (verb) to taper, dwindle.

kāwitiwiti

1. (stative) to taper, narrow.

Whatua mai te aho kia kāwitiwiti, kia kātoatoa mō te oti wawe, e hine! (M 2005:294). / For an earlier completion, weave the cross threads so that they taper and contract, my girl!

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Synonyms: namunamu, whāiti, kūiti, pīrahirahi


2. (modifier) slovenly, sloppy, uneven (of weaving).

He kahu kāwitiwiti noa tēnā, kāore i eke ki ngā mahi whatu a kui mā (PK 2008:248). / That is a sloppy cloak, it isn't of the quality of the weaving of the elderly women.

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pūnui

1. (noun) pūnui, Stilbocarpa lyallii - an endemic plant.


2. (noun) Stilbocarpa polaris - and endemic species.


3. (noun) gully fern, Cyathea cunninghamii - a tall, graceful tree fern similar to mamaku but with a more slender trunk, much more slender stalks and fronds. The trunk lacks the hexagonal scar pattern of mamaku and does not have the skirt of dead stalks of 'kātote'.


4. (noun) Prince of Wales Feathers, crape fern, Leptopteris superba - native tufted ground fern, often with a short woody trunk. Fronds tapered equally at both ends, very finely divided. Fluffy to touch. Grows best in cool, wet forest. Frond tapers at both ends.


5. (noun) whekī-ponga, Dicksonia fibrosa - native tree fern with very thick, soft, fibrous, rusty-brown trunk and a heavy skirt of dead, pale-brown fronds. Many narrow fronds on very short stalks, harsh to touch.

See also whekī ponga

pūniu

1. (noun) prickly shield fern, Polystichum vestitum - tufted native ground fern with long, narrow, prickly fronds of small leaflets, dark and shiny above, paler below. Stalks thick and very densely covered in large, dark scales.


2. (noun) Prince of Wales Feathers, crape fern, Leptopteris superba - native tufted ground fern, often with a short woody trunk. Fronds tapered equally at both ends, very finely divided. Fluffy to touch. Grows best in cool, wet forest. Frond tapers at both ends.

heruheru

1. (noun) single crape fern, Leptopteris hymenophylloides - native tufted ground fern, often with a short woody trunk. Fronds very delicate, dark but translucent like a filmy fern, finely divided but flat, and almost triangular. Common in damp forest.


2. (noun) Prince of Wales Feathers, crape fern, Leptopteris superba - native tufted ground fern, often with a short woody trunk. Fronds tapered equally at both ends, very finely divided. Fluffy to touch. Grows best in cool, wet forest. Frond tapers at both ends.

ngutu kākāriki

1. (noun) Prince of Wales Feathers, crape fern, Leptopteris superba - native tufted ground fern, often with a short woody trunk. Fronds tapered equally at both ends, very finely divided. Fluffy to touch. Grows best in cool, wet forest. Frond tapers at both ends.

tētē

1. (noun) young shoot, frond.

Ka whakamahia te kātua o te kaponga me te nīkau hei pou mō ngā whare. Ko ngā tētē hei purupuru i te tuanui (Te Ara 2013). / The trunks of tree ferns and nīkau palms were used for house posts. The fronds were used to stop up the chinks in the roof.

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2. (noun) chief.

Mate atu he tētē, ara mai he tētē (TTR 1990:120). / When a fern frond dies another emerges. (A figurative use - as one chief dies another rises to take his place.)

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3. (noun) figurehead of a canoe without arms and legs.

E whā ngā waka nei, he waka toiera, he waka pītau, he waka pakoko, he waka tētē (TP 4/1911:10). / These four canoes were: a war canoe with a carved stern and stem, a canoe with a figurehead, a canoe with an armless figurehead, and a canoe with a figurehead without arms and legs.

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4. (noun) Prince of Wales Feathers, crape fern, Leptopteris superba - native tufted ground fern, often with a short woody trunk. Fronds tapered equally at both ends, very finely divided. Fluffy to touch. Grows best in cool, wet forest. Frond tapers at both ends.

tētē kura

1. (noun) chief.

Ka tau tā rātou kōrero kia riro ko ia hei tētē kura whakakī i te whārua i mahue ake i tōna tuakana (TTR 1998:23). / They decided that he should become the chief to fill the vacancy left by his elder brother.

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See also tētēkura


2. (noun) Prince of Wales Feathers, crape fern, Leptopteris superba - native tufted ground fern, often with a short woody trunk. Fronds tapered equally at both ends, very finely divided. Fluffy to touch. Grows best in cool, wet forest. Frond tapers at both ends.

ngutungutu kiwi

1. (noun) Prince of Wales Feathers, crape fern, Leptopteris superba - native tufted ground fern, often with a short woody trunk. Fronds tapered equally at both ends, very finely divided. Fluffy to touch. Grows best in cool, wet forest. Frond tapers at both ends.

maikukuroa

1. (noun) Prince of Wales Feathers, crape fern, Leptopteris superba - native tufted ground fern, often with a short woody trunk. Fronds tapered equally at both ends, very finely divided. Fluffy to touch. Grows best in cool, wet forest. Frond tapers at both ends.

whai repo

1. (noun) eagle ray, Myliobatis tenuicaudatus - a ray with greenish-grey upper surface and blue markings, pale yellow-white below. Tail is thin with small spines and a small dorsal fin at the base. Head thick and protruding, eyes lateral. Most abundant from Cook Strait north over soft sediments and rocky reefs  from 0-422 m.

Synonyms: whai keo


2. (noun) short-tail stingray, Dasyatis brevicaudata - disc quadrangular, flattened and slightly wider than long. Tail stout at the base, broad and flattened, narrowing rapidly to the sting. Plain greyish to light brown, whitish to cream ventrally. Bottom-dwelling marine ray widespread in coastal waters of the Southern Hemisphere at depths of 5-300 m. Adults common inshore during summer and autumn.

See also whai

Synonyms: roha, pākaurua, whai


3. (noun) log-tail stingray, Dasyatis thetidis - one of the largest species of marine stingrays and may reach 210 kg. Uniformly greyish to black dorsally, white to creamish ventrally, head slightly elevated and eyes are small. Tail stout at the base, tapering gradually. Widespread in subtropical and temperate waters off coasts. In Aotearoa/New Zealand occurs mainly north of east Cape.

See also whai

patutiketike

1. (noun) manono, kanono, large-leaved coprosma, Coprosma grandifolia - a small native shrub to 6 m tall of lowland forests with pale bark and leathery-large leaves which are olive-green and wavy-edged. Flowers are greenish-white, spindly, in loose clusters. Its reddish orange berries are attractive to birds. The bark is used for producing the yellow colouring when dyeing muka.


2. (noun) karamū, shining karamū, Coprosma lucida - tall native shrub with green stems and glossy green pairs of leaves. Leaves 12-17cm long, oval, tapering to leaf stem and tip, main vein pale and causing a ridge on the upper and lower surface of leaf. Small colourless point on stem between bases of leaf pairs. Fruit red, in clusters.

See also karamū

Synonyms: karangū, karamū, kāramuramu

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