mea
1. (verb) (meinga,meingatia,meatingia,-tia) to say, speak, do, deal with, think, intend, make, use.
Ka mea te iwi ki a Tā Hōri Kerei, kia haere ki te whakamahau o te whare o Te Mānihera kia harirū rātou (TW 20/4/1878:180). / The people asked Sir George Grey to go to the verandah of Mr Maunsell's house so that they could shake hands.
Ka hangā he tāone ki te kūititanga meinga ana te ingoa ko Panama (TWMNT 27/8/1873:102). / A town was built at the isthmus and it is called Panama.
See also meinga, meingatia, meatingia
Synonyms: kōrero, waihanga, whakahangahanga, whaihanga, mahi, hanga, āhua, pepeha, hamumu, wani, whakahua, kīkī, puaki, kī, hangahanga
2. (noun) thing, object, property, one, reason, thingumajig, thingy, thingummy, whatcha-me-call-it, what-d'you-call-it, the one, that thing, whatsit - a word used to replace the name of something, often when a speaker has momentarily forgotten the correct word. It may function as a personal name, a location word, a noun or a verb (see other sub entries).
3. (personal name) thingumabob, thingamy, what's-his-name, so-and-so - a word used when one has forgotten, or does not know, the person's name.
I kōrero au ki a Mea - Ko wai tōna ingoa? / I talked to Thingumebob - what's her name?
4. (location) such-and-such a place - a word used for a place when one has forgotten the name.
I tae rātou ki Mea - kua wareware te ingoa i a au. / They arrived at such and such a place - I've forgotten the name.
5. (particle) soon (to denote a lapse of time).
6. (particle) Used with he and a verb as an alternative passive for past time.
(Te Māhuri Textbook (Ed. 2): 42;)
He mea tūraki te whare e te taraka. / The house was demolished by the truck.
7. such-and-such, so-and-so, somewhere, at some time - used before a noun, location, people or time to generalise or avoid saying a specific name.
Paku noa iho te kī atu ki konei tātou, e kare mā, ā mea wā ki mea wāhi, e kare mā, me noho tahi tātou, e kare mā (HM 4/1996:1). / We speak just briefly here, my friends, but at some time in the future and somewhere we will sit together.
He aha i whiriwhiria ai ko mea mā hai haere ki te Kura Āpiha i Trentham (HP 1991:117). / Why were he and the others selected to go to the Officers School at Trentham.
Koinei te pai o ēnei wānanga, ka haramai a mea tohunga me ōna mātauranga, a mea tohunga me ōna, hei āta whakaaroaro, hei āta tuitui haere mā te hunga whakarongo (HJ 2012:180). / This is the good thing about these seminars, each expert comes with her knowledge for the audience to mull over and blend together.
