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
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