whānau ariki
1. (noun) celestial bodies - stars, planets, meteors, constellations, comets, the sun, the moon.
(Te Kōhure Textbook (Ed. 2): 165-180;)
E mōhiotia ana ngā mea katoa kei te rangi ko te whānau ariki, ko te whānau mārama anō hoki (Wh4 2004:165). / All the things in the sky are known as the 'whānau ariki' and the 'whānau mārama'.
See also whānau mārama
2. (noun) aristocratic family.
Ko te āhua nei, nā Te Marae i whakarite te mārena o Piupiu ki a Kainuku Vaikai, ki te whanaunga o Mākea Nui o te whānau ariki o Rarotonga (TTR 1996:253). / It would seem that Te Marae arranged Piupiu's marriage to Kainuku Vaikai, a kinsman of the Makea Nui ariki family of Rarotonga.
