2. (modifier) small, little, minute, tiny, diminutive.
I roto māua i tētahi rūma paku i muri o te whare e purei kāri ana. / He and I were in a small room at the back of the house playing cards.
He ngārara paku te namu. / The sandfly is a small insect.
Synonyms: mataririki, mōkitokito, matariki, pota, pakupaku, nonohi, riki, nohinohi, kauriki, whito, koroiti, tātakimōri, iti, poniponi, pinepine, tuaiti, whengowhengo, whetau, mākari, muimui, mahake
3. (modifier) a little, slightly - sometimes used as a modifier when placed in front of the base it qualifies. It indicates the smallness, modestness or meagreness of something. It may also be used to down-play something.
(Te Māhuri Textbook (Ed. 2): 65-66;)
I paku moe te koroua i mua o te haere ki te kato pūhā. / The elderly man had a little sleep before going to pick pūhā.
I waho o te taha hauāuru o te whare, kei kō paku atu, e tipu ana ngā rākau piki e ono (HP 1991:12). / Outside on the western side of the house, a little way away, six fig trees were growing.
4. (noun) smallness.
Ahakoa te paku o tana mōhio ki te kōrero Moriori me tana kaingākau ki te uiui i ētahi pū kōrero, ka mahue ētahi, nāna te 90 paiheneti nuku atu o ngā kōrero mō te reo me ngā tikanga Moriori kei te mau tonu i nāianei (TTR 1990:152). / Despite how little his ability was in speaking Moriori and his concentration on some informants but not others, 90 per cent or more of the surviving information about Moriori language are still retained today.
