tētēkura
1. (noun) canoe figurehead - carved without arms or legs.
Koia rā i tangohia mai ai te mahi toa a te tētēkura ki te pakaru i te ngaru moana ki runga ki te tangata toa ki te pakanga (TP 3/1910:4). / That is why the bold function of the canoe figurehead in breaking the waves of the sea is applied to a brave person in battle.
2. (noun) brave warrior.
Tētēkura: mō te tangata toa, i putake mai i te tētēkura i te ihu o te waka (TP 3/1910:4). / Tētēkura (brave warrior): for the brave warrior and it originates from the term for the figurehead of a canoe.
3. (noun) young shoot, frond (of a fern or plant).
Ka ngaro he tētēkura, ka whakaete mai he tētēkura (HKW 1/8/1900:9). / As one fern frond disappears, another one thrust upwards. (A whakataukī with a number of variations in wording, all referring to chiefs being replaced when they die by younger emerging leaders, e.g. 'Mate atu he tētēkura, whakaete mai he tētēkura' (TP 7/1908:9).)
4. (noun) chief, leader.
Kātahi nei anō ka whakawhitia mai te tētēkura ki runga ki te rangatira, nō te mea kua kore ngā toa pakanga (TP 3/1910:4). / More recently the term 'tētēkura' has been transferred for a chief, because there are no longer warriors in battle.
See also tētē kura
Synonyms: tumuaki, tumu whakarae, kaiarataki, kaikākāriki, ngārahu, uru, kaihautū, kaitakitaki, kaingārahu, manukura, kaiwhakanekeneke, manu taupua, amokapua, amokura, ariki, ihorei, kahika, tātarariki, poutoko, whakataka, amorangi, hautū, tātāriki, kaitaki, kaitātaki, kaiārahi, kākākura, pouwhenua, kaiwhakataki, wheao
5. (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.
See also heruheru
Synonyms: maikukuroa, ngutu kākāriki, pūniu, tētē kura, ngutungutu kiwi, pūnui, tētē, heruheru
