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Loan words

Historical loan words

mako

1. (noun) shortfin mako, Isurus oxyrinchus - a large, fast-moving oceanic shark with deep blue back and white underparts. Front dorsal fin large. Up to 5.85 m long. Found throughout the world in temporate and tropical seas and to 49 degrees south in Aotearoa/New Zealand waters from surface to over 550 m depth.

Synonyms: ngutukao


2. (noun) tooth of a mako shark, shark-tooth ornament.

Ki te hunga ki tōna whakaaro e tika ana, makere noa ana i a ia te patu pounamu, te kete, te tāniko, te korowai, te tokotoko tae noa ki tana mako tautau, tēnei rā tētahi o āna tino taonga (TTR 1998:208). / He gave to visitors he thought worthy, greenstone clubs, flax baskets, tāniko weaving, korowai cloaks, walking sticks and even one of his priceless shark's-tooth ear pendants.

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