morimori
1. (verb) (-a,-tia) to nurse (an infant), caress, handle.
Hei ētahi tāima e tae noa atu ana ahau ki te morimori i ngā maire, i ētahi tāima kāore e tae atu ka riri ki ngā kurī (TJ 20/6/1899:16). / Sometimes I would go and stroke its antlers, but at other times I could not go because it was angry with the dogs.
Synonyms: tapuhi, tiaki, nēhi, nāhi, nānā, whakatapuhi, hiki, mohimohi
2. (verb) (-a,-tia) to promote the development and well-being, pamper, pander to, indulge, mollycoddle.
Ko tāku, kaua te Kāwanatanga e hikihiki tonu, e morimori tonu i te iwi Māori me ōna whenua, me tuku te Māori kia whakahaere i ana whenua (Pire Whakahaere i Ngā Whenua Māori 31/10/1901). / I say that the Government should not keep propping up and pampering to the Māori people and their lands. The Māori should be left to manage their land.
Synonyms: nānā
3. (verb) (-a,-tia) to touch, handle, stroke, caress (the head of a chief) - it was a breach of tapu for another person to touch a chief's head.
Me he rangatira te tangata nōna te pane i morimoria nei, kātahi ka rangona tēnei kupu morimori e whakahuatia ana, mō te morimoringa hoki o te pane tapu o te rangatira nei. Ka tauatia hoki, ka murua ngā taonga, whenua, aha atu rānei, a te tangata nāna i morimori (JPS 1894:28). / If it was a chief whose head was touched, then this word 'morimori' would be used for the action of touching the sacred head of the chief. The person who touched it would be the subject of a hostile party and his goods, land or other property would be plundered.
4. (noun) promoting the development and well-being, pampering, pandering to, indulging, mollycoddling.
Me mutu te morimori tonu a te Whare nei i te iwi Māori, kua mōhio noa atu rātou i nāianei ki te whakahaere i a rātou (Pire Whakahaere i Ngā Whenua Māori 31/10/1901). / The House's continual pampering of the Māori people must stop as they have known for a long time now how to manage themselves.
