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Historical loan words

pōtangotango

1. (verb) to be intense darkness, pitch-black, pitch-dark.

Nō tō rātau haerenga ki waho, kua pōtangotango kē (Ng 1993:340). / When they went outside it was pitch-black.

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2. (noun) intense darkness, pitch-black.

Haere i te huarahi o ngā Kīngi o ngā Kuīni, me ngā kāwanatanga o te ao, he mea i āta tauiratia mai i ngā whakapaparanga maha o te orokohanganga mai rānō, he huarahi kua tuhera hei hīkoinga atu mō te hunga e heke atu ana ki te pōuriuri, ki te pōtangotango, ā, e kore e hokia mai anō te ao-tūroa (TPH 9/11/1904:12). / Go on the path of the kings and queens and the governments of the world, which was predetermined in the many generations from the beginning, a path has been opened for the people descending into darkness, into the intense darkness and from which there is no returning to this world.

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Synonyms: tuauriuri

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