Takirau
1. (personal noun) moon on the seventeenth (eighteenth or nineteenth) night of the lunar month - for some tribes (e.g. Te Whānau-ā-Apanui) this is the third night of the lunar month.
Ko ngā rā ka whakatō kai te Māori, ko Ōuenuku (rā 4) ko Ari (rā 9), ko Rākau-nui (rā 16), ko Rākau-matohi (rā 17), ko Takirau (rā 18), ko Ōrongonui (rā 27) (Te Ara 2013). / Māori planted kūmara on the nights called Ōuenuku (4th day), Ari (9th day), Rākau-nui (16th day), Rākau-ma-tohi (17th day), Takirau (18th day) and Ōrongonui (27th day).
Synonyms: Rākaunui
2. (noun) moon on the third night after the full moon.
E whakatūpato ana ngā pakeke mō tēnei āhua o te Takirau, nō te mea kai waenganui i te pai, i te kino tēnei pō e tītakataka ana (WT 2013:25). / The old people caution about this aspect of the Takirau night, because this night wavers between producing a good or bad crop.
