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Loan words

Historical loan words

harakeke

1. (noun) New Zealand flax, Phormium tenax - an important native plant with long, stiff, upright leaves and dull red flowers. Found on lowland swamps throughout Aotearoa/New Zealand. It has straight, upright seed pods. This is a general name for the harakeke leaf and the plant itself, but each different variety has its own name.

Ka pukuriri ia ki a mātau, ka patua mātau e ia ki tōna pōtae harakeke (HP 1991:24). / When he was angry with us he would hit us with his flax hat.

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See also kōrari

Synonyms: kōrari, harareka, kohungaiti, tīhore

pūpū harakeke

1. (noun) flax snails, Placostylus spp. - large snails with a long, tapered coil, most being dark reddish-brown to chocolate.

(Te Māhuri Textbook (Ed. 2): 164;)

Kai Te Aupōuri me Ngāti Kurī tētahi atu ngārara ngata he pūpū harakeke tōna ingoa (TWK 41:17). / In Te Aupōuri me Ngāti Kurī territory there is another monster snail called a pūpū harakeke (Placostylus ambagiosus).

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2. (noun) shell of the flax snail used as a musical instrument.

Ka hangaia tēnei taonga whakatangitangi, te pūpū harakeke i te anga o te pūpū harakeke, he momo ngata ka noho ki te pū harakeke (RTP 2015:79). / This musical instrument, the pūpū harakeke, is made from the shell of a flax snail, a type of snail that lives in flax bushes.

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pū harakeke

1. (noun) clump of flax - also used figuratively for 'grassroots'.

Ka whakatata atu a Mētara me tana rōpū, ka huna i raro i ngā rauaruhe, i ngā rākau, me ngā pū harakeke (TWK 2:7). / When Mētara and his party approached they hid under the bracken fern, trees and clumps of flax.
He wero nui ki ngā iwi te whakapākehā i ngā tikanga Māori hei whakahaere i ngā kaupapa ahumoni. He āhuatanga rerekē te pū harakeke ki ngā tikanga rangatōpū o Pākehā mā (Te Ara 2014). / Translating Māori customs into a way of management of financial systems is a big challenge for iwi. The ‘flax roots’ style is somewhat different from the corporate hierarchies of Pākehā.

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See also pūharakeke

pā harakeke

1. (noun) flax bush, generations - sometimes used as a metaphor to represent the whānau and the gene pools inherited by children from their two parents and the passing of attributes down the generations.

He kupu whakarite te pā harakeke mō te whānau. Ko te rito i waenganui pū i te harakeke, koia tērā ko te tamaiti, ko ngā rau kei waho, ko ngā pakeke (Te Ara 2011). / The flax bush represents the family. The new leaf at its centre is the child, and leaves on the outside are older relatives.

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Pā harakeke

1. A flax plantation: said of ones children and mokopuna.

E pēwhea ana tō pā harakeke e hoa? / How are your children and grand-children mate?

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Moea te wahine pā harakeke

1. Marry are woman who is a weaver (industrious).

Marry the flax plantation woman. /

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Tūngia te ururua kia tupu whakaritorito te tupu o te harakeke

1. Clear away the negative to make way for the positive.

Burn off the brushwood so the new shoots of flax grow. /

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rito

1. (noun) centre shoot, young centre leaf of the harakeke, new harakeke shoot.

Hutia te rito o te harakeke, kei whea to korimako e kō? (JPS 1990:55). / If you pluck out the centre shoot of the flax, where will the bellbird sing?

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kukakuka

1. (noun) harakeke scrapings, dry epidermis of harakeke - removed in preparing muka.

Whakatahaia te kukakuka, whakarērea te kukakuka (W 1971:155). / Put the harakeke scrapings to one side and discard them.

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parakoka

1. (noun) harakeke leaf scrapings, leaf waste from scraping harakeke for muka.

Ka riro te parakoka o te muka, ka hīeweewe te muka, ko ngā kaka kau (W 1971:49). / The waste of the muka is taken off, thus separating the muka, and leaving only the fibre.

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2. (noun) black bream, parore, Girella tricuspidata - a silvery grey to grey-brown fish with vertical dark bars along the sides. Body oval and compressed with a small mouth. Most common in shallow waters around the northeastern North Island.

See also parore

Synonyms: muritea, ngāoheohe

aorangi

1. (noun) striped variety of harakeke.


2. (noun) variety of kūmara.

turingāwari

1. (noun) variety of harakeke from Ngāti Porou. A tall, soft, bendy harakeke. Margin and keel reddish brown with light shading on tips of young leaves. Good for kete harakeke and easy to work.

pango

1. (adjective) be black, dark in colour.

E rite ana te kara ki te waikura rino nei, ko ētahi he kākāriki, ko ētahi he pango, ko ētahi he mā, ko ētahi he mā tū-ā-whero nei (TWMNT 24/2/1874:52). / The colour is like rusty iron, some are green, some black, some white, and some of a pale red.

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2. (modifier) black, dark in colour.

He nui anō te whai rawa o te iwi kiri pango i te koura, i te hiriwa, i te peara me ngā kōhatu utu nui me te whenua (TPH 15/8/1900:2). / The blacks have great wealth in gold, silver, pearls and precious stones and land.

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3. (noun) variety of harakeke from Tawatapu district, south of Gisborne. Short, bendy variety. Overall bush has a dark appearance. Rito blades are a bronze colour. Reddish-brown margin and keel. Brownish-purple kōrari. Flowers well. used for green kete harakeke. Not good for muka.

oue

1. (noun) variety of harakeke from Te Tai Rāwhiti. Short, strong, straight, pale green blades with blunt points particularly on the young blades. Margin and keel are brownish orange. Few short kōrari with heavy, blunt seed pods. Very good all purpose harakeke. Some mature blades may be used for piupiu but not really a piupiu variety . Makes very strong kete.

tākirikau

1. (noun) variety of harakeke from Te Tai Rāwhiti. A very handsome harakeke, growing at times up to 3 m high. Straight, very strong, pale yellowy-green leaves. Bright yellow-orange margin and keel. Small number of very high, heavy kōrari. One of the finer cultivars of flax which can be stripped of fibre with the fingers and without the use of a shell. Produces long strands of strong, shiny fibre. Very good piupiu variety. Easy to prepare and has plenty of length so is particularly good for ladies piupiu.

takaiapu

1. (noun) variety of harakeke from Hawke's Bay. Tall, rather bendy, medium green leaves. Good all purpose harakeke.

ōpiki

1. (noun) variety of harakeke from near Foxton. Has very tall, wide, medium green blades and few kōrari. Handy all purpose harakeke.

taniwha

1. (noun) variety of harakeke from Waiomatatini, East Coast. A handsome bronze coloured harakeke. Deep brown tones with crimson, almost translucent margins and markings along centre of blades. Purply-blue bloom on the underside of the leaves and on the kōrari. Good ornamental.

atarau

1. (modifier) moonlit.

Kei ngā pō atarau, kei ngā pō rākaunui o te marama, e kitea atu ana a Rona, me tana tahā, me te rākau ngaio e tū ana i tana taha (TWK 2:13). / On moonlit nights, on nights when the moon is full, Rona can be seen with her calabash and the ngaio tree standing at her side.

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2. (noun) moonlight.

E tiaho ana te atarau ki runga ki ngā ōriwa o taua kāri (KO 15/2/1884:16). / The moonlight was shining down on the olive trees of the garden.

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Synonyms: ata māhina


3. (noun) moon.

Ā, muri tonu iho i te whakapāwera i aua rā, ka whakapōuritia te rā, e kore anō e titi te atarau (PT Matiu 24:29). / Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light.

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Synonyms: māhina, marama, ahoroa


4. (noun) vestige, shadow.

I whakahuatia e Nōpera Pana-kareao ōna whakaaro ki tēnei kōrero, "Ko te atarau o te whenua i riro i te Kuīni, ko te tinana o te whenua i waiho ki ngā Māori." Kotahi tau i muri mai ka hurihia pēneihia e ia tana kōrero, “Ko te tinana o te whenua kei te Kuīni, ko te atarau anake i mahue ki te Māori." (Te Ara 2015). / Nōpera Pana-kareao expressed his thoughts with this saying, "The shadow of the land will go to the Queen, but the substance of the land will remain with us." One year later he reversed his opinion, saying, "The Queen has the substance of the land and the Māori retains only the shadow."

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5. (noun) variety of harakeke from Whanganui river. Has straight, strong, pointed leaf with red tonings inside the old blades. Very blue bloom on the back of the blades. Very few flower heads. A handsome bush, quite a contrast with a distinctive deep blue tone about its tall bright bronzy leaves.

ate

1. (noun) variety of harakeke from Whanganui river district with tall, straight, wide, dark blue-green blades with a definite blue bloom on the underside of the leaves. Margin and keel very dark reddish brown. No kōrari. May be used for piupiu and muka.

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