Maori Glossary

Aroha – love

Atua – God, guardian

Iwi – Tribe, descended from one of the seven canoes which came to New Zealand

Haere – to move, to go

Haere Mai – to move towards the speaker, come here

Haere Ra – goodbye

Hangi – oven (in the ground – traditional method used for cooking food)

Hapu – sub-tribe, a branch of the main iwi

Harakeke – flax

Hine – young girl

Kai – food

Kai moana – food of the sea

Kainga – home

Kakariki - green

Kete – woven basket

Kia ora – Hello

Korero – talk, speak, words, language

Korowai – traditional cloak

karakia – prayer

Mana – the essence of a person, honour, prestige,

Manaakitanga – caring, sharing

Manuhiri – visitor, guest

Maori – indigenous race of New Zealand, normal

Marae – traditional meeting place

Pa – fortified Maori village

Papa – earth, ground, soil

Papatuanuku – Mother Earth, nature

Piupiu – to swing or sway, name of the costume skirt

Pohutu – big splash or explosion

Rakau – wood, stick

Rangatira – chief

Rauru – spiral

Roto – lake, also the adverb for ‘in’

Rotorua – second (rua) lake

Rotorua nui a Kahu – second big lake of Kahu

Rotowhio – lake of the blue or whistling duck

Tane – man

Tane Atua – god of the forest

Tangata – person, people

Tangata Whenua – people of the land, the original inhabitants

Taniwha – ancient creature

Tapu – sacred

Te Puia – the volcano or geyser

Te Rito – the baby stem at the heart of the flax. Also, name of weaving school

Te Wananga Whakairo – carving school

Te Whakarewarewatanga O Te Ope Taua A Wahiao – The uprising of the warriors (war party) of Wahiao

Tikanga – principles, protocols, guidelines

Tohunga – high priest

Tupuna – ancestor

Urupa – burial site

Wahine – woman

Wai - water

Waiotapu – sacred waters

Waka – canoe, carrier, mode of transport

Waka Taua – war canoe

Wananga – school of learning

Whakairo – the art of carving. Can also apply to weaving

Whakairo rakau – the art of wood carving

Whakapapa – heritage, past, genealogy, connection to land

Whanau – family

Whare – building, structure, house

Wharenui - large house, usually the sacred meeting house of tribes

Whenua – land

Whero – red

Whio – blue or whistling duck

 

Numbers in Maori:

Tahi – one

Rua – two

Toru – three

Wha – four

Rima – five

Ono – six

Whetu – seven

Waru – eights

Iwa – nine

Tekau – ten