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Idioms

Phrases

Proverbs

Loan words

Historical loan words

nawa

1. (verb) (-ia) to be distant.

E anga tō mata ki te ao o te tonga, ki te ara haerenga o tō tupuna kua nawaia i ngā rangi nā (G 1853:17). / Turn your face to the world of the south, to the path travelled by your ancestor who has been removed to a distance in those days.

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2. (modifier) distant, remote, far-off.

He whenua nawa - tekau mā ono hāora i te waka rererangi e tae atu ai (PK 2008:493). / A distant land - reached after sixteen hours on a plane.

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Synonyms: tawhiti, pāmamao, kōkēi


3. (interjection) used at the end of stanzas with no apparent meaning, often in the forms i nawa, mā nawa, mau nawa, kai mau nawa.

Kaea: Auē! Nō wai te motokā e topa mai ngā rori? Katoa: Auē! Nōu nei Kāwana tika mai nei tāua, i nawa! (VC 1943:8). / Leader: Whose is the motor car speeding hither along the highway? All: It is thine, O Governor, coming direct to me (VC 1943:9).

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