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taonga

1. (noun) property, goods, possession, effects, object.

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Synonyms: rirohanga, kame, utauta, āhuatanga, hautaonga, hanga, whakakāhore, ahanoa, takunetanga, whakatoitoi, mea, tarawene, tohe, tohetohe, rawa


2. (noun) treasure, anything prized - applied to anything considered to be of value including socially or culturally valuable objects, resources, phenomenon, ideas and techniques. Examples of the word's use in early texts show that this broad range of meanings is not recent, while a similar range of meanings from some other Eastern Polynesian languages support this (e.g. Tuamotuan). The first example sentence below was first published in a narrative in 1854 by Sir George Grey, but was probably written in 1849 or earlier.

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