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Filters

Idioms

Phrases

Proverbs

Loan words

Historical loan words

whāioio

1. (modifier) very numerous - often used to intensify a noun signifying many, e.g. tini, mano.

He mano tini whāioio a Tangaroa ki te takototanga (JPS 1901:184). / Thousands upon thousands, innumerable were the hosts of Tangaroa.

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2. (modifier) long ago - intensifies tūāuri, tūāuriuri, tuauri and tuauriuri where these are used to indicate a time in the distant past.

I ngā rā o tuauri whāioio, e whakapaetia ana i noho ngā tīpuna o te kiwi i Ahitereiria, ka mutu, he manu whai parirau kē i taua wā (HKK 1999:189). / In prehistoric times, it is claimed that the ancestors of the kiwi lived in Australia, and what's more, it was a bird that had wings at that time.
Ko tō tātou reo tūāuriuri whāioio kia kaua e ngaro i tā te moa ngaro engari kia ora mō ake tonu atu (HM 3/1995:6). / Our ancient language should not be lost like the extinction of the moa but should live forever.

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Synonyms: , tāukiuki, noa atu, neha, noa mai, aua atu (rā), noa ake


3. (noun) New Zealand pipit, Anthus novaeseelandiae - native bird with head and upperparts brown and streaked darker brown similar to a skylark but more slender, with the habit of flicking its long tail up and down. It inhabits open areas but avoids intensively farmed land.

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