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Idioms

Phrases

Proverbs

Loan words

Historical loan words

mātātā

1. (noun) fernbird, Bowdleria punctata - a warm brown bird heavily streaked and spotted dark brown with a long frayed tail. Secretive and lives in freshwater and tidal wetlands.


2. (noun) water fern, Histiopteris incisa - creeping native ground fern. Young fronds a distinctive pea green, and lobed like an oak leaf. It grows in moist clearings, edges of forest and along stream banks.


3. (noun) ring fern, Paesia scaberula - creeping native ground fern. Its fine, lacy, yellowish-green fronds are often sticky, with zigzag chestnut-brown stalks and have a distinctive smell. Common on cleared, sunny ground.


4. (noun) pink maomao, Caprodon longimanus - uniformly pink fish with red-orange on the head and pectoral fins edged with pale blue. Body narrow and elongated with a deeply forked tail and long pectoral fins.

Synonyms: mātā

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