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Loan words

Historical loan words

pākaha

1. (verb) to be energetic, firm, bold, forceful, vigorous, aggressive.

Ki te mea ka pākaha te mahi, ka whakakotahi te tikanga, e kore pea e wheau ka mimiti ngā puna o tēnei kino (TWMNT 25/5/1875:110). / If we set to work in earnest, and if we act unitedly, perhaps it won't be long before the springs of this evil will be dried up.

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2. (modifier) violent, severe, firm, bold, strict.

Heoti, mēnā ki te whakaaro o te rangatahi i ētehi wā he wahine pākaha a Te Puea, i mōhio anō hoki rātou ki te hōhonu o tōna pūaroha ki a rātou katoa (TTR 1996:52). / However, if the young people in these times thought that Te Puea was a strict woman, they also knew the depth of her concern for them all.

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3. (noun) strictness, severity, rigour, sternness.

Ahakoa te pākaha o Te Riri ki ana mokopuna, he pākaha tōkeke tonu nei tōna (TTR 1998:84). / Despite Te Riri's strictness with his grandchildren, his sternness was fair.

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Synonyms: taikaha

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