riko
1. (verb) to wane, diminish - of the moon.
Ki tā te maramataka Māori, nā te kaha makariri o te marama o Hereturikōkā, ‘ka kitea ngā turi o te tangata kua rāngai e te ahi’. Waihoki, ka hua, ka riko te marama (Te Ara 2013). / According to the Māori lunar calendar, the winter month of Hereturi-kōkā is so cold that ‘the scorching effect of fire is seen on the knees of man.’ But the moon continues to wax and wane.
2. (verb) to be dirty, filthy.
E tama, ka riko noa iho koe ki te kore koe e kaukau. / Son, you will will be absolutely filthy if you don't have a bath.
3. (noun) dirt, foulness, filth.
He makiki ngā whakaaro o taua wahine rā, me te aha, poua ana e ia te āhua o te whare riko kore ki roto i a Hana (TTR 1996:162). / That woman had a stern outlook, imbuing Hannah with high standards of housekeeping.
4. (noun) large species of eel with greenish back.
Nō te tau 1965 ka kōrero te kaumātua rā a Tame Saunders mō ngā momo tuna heke, rere kotahi katoa ai tēnā momo tuna, tēnā momo tuna, tēnā momo tuna: tuatahi ko ngā hao (30 henemita te roa), whai muri ko ngā riko (he kākāriki te tuarā, kotahi mita te roa), ngā paranui (he pango te tae, he kiri mātotoru), kātahi ngā tuna kōkopu (tae ki te 1.8 mita te roa, hāwhe koma-mano te taumaha) (Te Ara 2013). / Tame Saunders, an elder, described in 1965 how the different types of eels came down in the same order: first the hao (king eels, about 30 centimetres long), then the riko (greenish-backed eels, about a metre long), then the paranui (dark, with thick skins), and finally the kōkopu tuna (up to 1.8 metres long and weighing just under 30 kilograms).
Synonyms: kōkopu
