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Historical loan words

mātauranga

1. (noun) knowledge, wisdom, understanding, skill - sometimes used in the plural.

Ko ngā kaumātua e kaiponu ana i ngā kōrero e tika ana kia hāmenetia e mātou, e ngā tamariki, nō te mea he kōhuru tēnei i a mātou. Homai ngā kōrero me ngā mātauranga o mua hei taiaha mā mātou ki te patu i ngā Pākehā e kī nei he iwi kūare te Māori. Kaua e waiho mā ngā Pākehā e kōrero ngā tikanga Māori i roto i ngā nūpepa Pākehā, engari mā tātou, mā ngā Māori, e kōrero i roto i tā tātou nūpepa Māori, i 'Te Pipiwharauroa' (TP 10/1907:9). / It is right that the elders who are withholding information be censured by us, the children, because this is a treacherous abuse of custom against us. Provide us with the stories and the knowledge of the past as a weapon for us to combat the Pākehā who say that the Māori are an ignorant people. Don't leave it for the Pākehā to talk about Māori customs in English newspapers, but it's for us, the Māori, to talk about them in our Māori newspaper, 'Te Pipiwharauroa'. (From an article in Māori by Te Rangi Hīroa.)

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Synonyms: mōhio, mātau, mōhiotanga


2. (noun) education - an extension of the original meaning and commonly used in modern Māori with this meaning.

I te wā e tamariki ana koinā te mahurutanga o te tangata. Ko tēnā te wā hei whāwhātanga ki te mātauranga (TTT 1/2/1925:179). / During the time of childhood a person is untroubled. That's the time to tackle education.

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3. (noun) knowledgeable person, sage, scholar, intellectual, academic.

E ngā mātauranga katoa, tēnā koutou (TP 10/1905:6). / All knowledgeable people, greetings.

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Synonyms: ngaio, mōhio, hīnātore, ruānuku, wānanga, whakatuatea

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