heketanga
1. (noun) descent, downward slope.
Mō te mākututanga tēnei a Mahu i te hunga i haere mai rā ki te uhunga ki a Kurapatiu, ka poua taua iwi hei kōhatu; tū tonu iho i te aranui o te heketanga tu ai i runga o Kohuipu (ki ētahi Kahuipu), e tū mai nā anō (M 2004:362). / This refers to the bewitching by Mahu of the party who had come to mourn for Kurapatiu, and who were all turned into stone; and remained standing on the trail at the steep descent from the heights of Kohuipu (some have it as Kahuipu), and there they still stand (M 2004:363).
2. (noun) decent, decline (e.g. of the sun).
Kei te iwa o ngā haora o te ata o taua rā tīmata ai te mahi, kei te whā tonu o ngā haora o te heketanga o te rā mutu ai (TKP 7/6/1858:1). / At nine o'clock in the morning of that day the activity begins and at four o'clock in the afternoon it ends.
3. (noun) migration.
I te tekau tau o te 1950 me te 1960 ka piki anō te taupori Māori, ā, ka whakatika anō te heketanga mai i ngā taiwhenua ki ngā tāone (Te Ara 2015). / In the 1950s and 1960s, the Māori population increasingly migrated from rural areas to the cities.
Synonyms: nukunuku, whakahekenga, hekenga, heke
