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Idioms

Phrases

Proverbs

Loan words

Historical loan words

whau

1. (noun) cork tree, corkwood, Entelea arborescens - a native tree with large, heart-shaped, toothed, soft leaves, large white flowers and distinctive fruit of large, brown, spine-covered seed capsules. Found in coastal areas of the North Island at the base of cliffs and in sheltered gullies.

Ka utaina ngā peka mākū o te whau me te karamū ki runga i te ahi, ko te koromāhu hei rongoā mō ngā poroiwi kua whati (Te Ara 2012). / Wet branches were thrown on a fire with whau and karamū, to make steam as treatment for broken bones.

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2. (noun) five-finger, Pseudopanax arboreus - a tree with compound leaves with five to seven 'fingers' and thick, leathery leaves with large teeth. A small, many-branched, round-headed tree with thick, brittle, spreading branches. One of the most common native trees.

whauwhaupaku

1. (noun) five-finger, Pseudopanax arboreus - a tree with compound leaves with five to seven 'fingers' and thick, leathery leaves with large teeth. A small, many-branched, round-headed tree with thick, brittle, spreading branches. One of the most common native trees.

See also whaupaku

Synonyms: whau, whaupaku, tauparapara, houhou, puahou

whekī

1. (noun) rough tree fern, Dicksonia squarrosa - native, medium-sized tree fern with a slender, often branching, trunk covered with black, peg-like remains of fallen fronds. Few fronds that spread horizontally with a few persistent brown dead fronds.

whekī ponga

1. (noun) whekī-ponga, Dicksonia fibrosa - native tree fern with very thick, soft, fibrous, rusty-brown trunk and a heavy skirt of dead, pale-brown fronds. Many narrow fronds on very short stalks, harsh to touch.

Whēoro, Wiremu Te Mōrehu Maipapa Te

1. (personal name) (?-1895) Waikato, Ngāti Mahuta; leader, assessor, soldier, native commissioner, mediator, politician and diplomat who fought to have Waikato confiscated lands returned. He was a member of Parliament for Western Māori, from 1879-1884.

whio

1. (verb) (-tia) to whistle.

E haere mai ana te tereina, ka tata ki te Paewai ka whio te tereina (TPH 26/10/1898:6). / The train was coming and when it was near Woodside it whistled.

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2. (noun) whistle.

(Te Māhuri Textbook (Ed. 2): 168;)

Kātahi ka whakatangihia te whio o te tima, hei karanga i a Te Apere, Kaiwhakawā, kia puta mai ia ki waho, ā haere mai ana ia (TWMNT 27/6/1876:155). / Then the whistle of the ship was blown to call Mr Aubrey, the Magistrate, to appear and he came out.

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3. (noun) blue duck, Hymenolaimus malacorhynchos - blue-grey duck with a pale pink bill found along fast-flowing mountain streams and rivers in native forest and tussock grassland. Named after the call of the male bird.

(Te Māhuri Study Guide (Ed. 1): 25;)

whioi

1. (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.

heruheru

1. (noun) single crape fern, Leptopteris hymenophylloides - native tufted ground fern, often with a short woody trunk. Fronds very delicate, dark but translucent like a filmy fern, finely divided but flat, and almost triangular. Common in damp forest.


2. (noun) Prince of Wales Feathers, crape fern, Leptopteris superba - native tufted ground fern, often with a short woody trunk. Fronds tapered equally at both ends, very finely divided. Fluffy to touch. Grows best in cool, wet forest. Frond tapers at both ends.

mātātā

1. (noun) fernbird, Bowdleria punctata - a warm brown bird heavily streaked and spotted dark brown with a long frayed tail. Secretive and lives in freshwater and tidal wetlands.


2. (noun) water fern, Histiopteris incisa - creeping native ground fern. Young fronds a distinctive pea green, and lobed like an oak leaf. It grows in moist clearings, edges of forest and along stream banks.


3. (noun) ring fern, Paesia scaberula - creeping native ground fern. Its fine, lacy, yellowish-green fronds are often sticky, with zigzag chestnut-brown stalks and have a distinctive smell. Common on cleared, sunny ground.


4. (noun) pink maomao, Caprodon longimanus - uniformly pink fish with red-orange on the head and pectoral fins edged with pale blue. Body narrow and elongated with a deeply forked tail and long pectoral fins.

Synonyms: mātā

parareka

1. (noun) king fern, horseshoe fern, Marattia salicin - huge, tufted native ground fern with unusually large, heavy, dark, glossy fronds, divided into long, strap-like leaflets. Stalks clasping at base, with large ear-like lobes. The underground stems were an important food.

See also para

Synonyms: para, paratawhiti, uwhi para


2. (noun) potato (Eastern dialect), Solanum tuberosum - a general term for potato but also refers to a specific oval-shaped cultivar with pink-and-yellow mottled skin and white floury flesh.

Ka riro taua whare hei kītini mahinga kai, muri iho ka noho hei pākoro parareka, paukena hoki (TP 10/1905:10). / That building was used as a kitchen to prepare food, and later it became a storehouse for potatoes and pumpkins.

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See also taewa

Synonyms: kāpana, rīwai, pārete

rengamutu

1. (noun) beach spinach, New Zealand spinach, Tetragonia tetragonioides, and climbing New Zealand spinach, Tetragonia implexicoma - similar native plants with round to heart-shaped, alternating, thick, fleshy leaves glistening with a fine powder. Have small, yellow flowers in spring. Creeping plants with stems and leaves often reddish. Found on sand dunes, beach gravel, and rocks.

See also kōkihi

Synonyms: tūtae ikamoana, kōkihi, rengarenga

tūtae ikamoana

1. (noun) beach spinach, New Zealand spinach, Tetragonia tetragonioides, and climbing New Zealand spinach, Tetragonia implexicoma - similar native plants with round to heart-shaped, alternating, thick, fleshy leaves glistening with a fine powder. Have small, yellow flowers in spring. Creeping plants with stems and leaves often reddish. Found on sand dunes, beach gravel, and rocks.

See also kōkihi

Synonyms: rengamutu, kōkihi, rengarenga

akakaikū

1. (noun) New Zealand passionfruit, Passiflora tetrandra - native tendril climber with alternating, pointed, shiny leaves, white flowers smaller than the garden passionfruit and orange-coloured, pear-shaped fruit.

pōhue

1. (noun) convolvulus, bindweed, New Zealand bindweed, Calystegia sepium - a herbaceous perennial that twines around other plants to a height of up to 2-4 m. Leaves are arranged spirally, simple, pointed at the tip and arrowhead shaped, 5-10 cm long and 3-7 cm broad. Flowers are produced from late spring to the end of summer. The open flowers are trumpet-shaped, 3-7 cm diameter, white, or pale pink with white stripes. A name given to several climbing plants.

Ko te rite ia kei te whare pakaru e awhitia nei e te pōhue, matomato tonu, ngotongoto tonu, ki te titiro atu, ko roto ia he pirau, he popopo (TTT 1/3/1923:195). / It is but a ruined building wreathed with ivy, all lush and fresh to look at, but rotten inside.

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Synonyms: pōhuhe, akapōhue, rauparaha, pōhuehue


2. (noun) New Zealand passionfruit, Passiflora tetrandra - native tendril climber with alternating, pointed, shiny leaves, white flowers smaller than the garden passionfruit and orange-coloured, pear-shaped fruit.

E kī ana, i mua i pai te kai a te Māori, he kūmera, he aruhe, he pōhue, he manu, he kaingārā, he tuna, he mātaitai; e mea ana anō i kaha rawa te tangata i tērā wā. Ināianei, kua mahue te aruhe, me te pōhue kua kore te kaingārā, kua iti haere te manu, kua iti haere hoki te ngaki o te kūmera—, kua tahuri te tangata ki te kānga piro (TH 1/7/1859:2). / It is said that in former times the diet of the Māori consisted of kūmara, fern root, New Zealand passionfruit, birds, yellow moray eels, eels and seafood; and it was also said that people were stronger at that time. Now, the fern root has been abandoned along with the New Zealand passionfruit and the yellow moray eels is gone, birds have decreased and the cultivation of kūmara has also dwindled and people have turned to fermented corn.

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See also kōhia

Synonyms: kūpapa, kōhia, kohe, kāhia, kaimanu, akakaikū, akatororaro, akakūkū, akakaikūkū, akakaimanu


3. (noun) wire vine, Muehlenbeckia complexa - a native twining stem climber found behind sand dunes and on rocky ground. It has small, round to heart-shaped alternating leaves. The flowers are inconspicuous and the fruit is a black, three-angled seed in a fleshy, ice-coloured cup.

akatawhiwhi

1. (noun) scarlet rātā vine, Metrosideros fulgens - a native vine with yellow to bright red flowers, mainly during winter.

taraheke

1. (noun) bush lawyer, Rubus cissoides, Rubus australis - native plants with hand-shaped, toothed leaves and white, heavily scented flowers. Fruit is yellowish-red, shaped like a small blackberry. The branchlets and backs of the leaf stalks are covered in hooked thorns. Found throughout Aotearoa/New Zealand.

koropuka

1. (noun) koropuka, bush snowberry, fool's beech, Gaultheria antipoda - native bushy shrub bearing rounded small leathery toothed leaves on hairy twigs. Hairs on twigs black mixed with shorter paler hairs. Flowers white, bell-shaped, solitary at base of leaf. Leaves alternating on stem, 7-10mm long by 6-10mm wide, sometimes much smaller at tip of twig, Fruit red or white.

takapo

1. (noun) koropuka, bush snowberry, fool's beech, Gaultheria antipoda - native bushy shrub bearing rounded small leathery toothed leaves on hairy twigs. Hairs on twigs black mixed with shorter paler hairs. Flowers white, bell-shaped, solitary at base of leaf. Leaves alternating on stem, 7-10mm long by 6-10mm wide, sometimes much smaller at tip of twig, Fruit red or white.

See also koropuka

Synonyms: tāwiniwini, koropuka, taupuku, pāpapa

tūmingi

1. (noun) tūmingi, Epacris pauciflora - shrub or tree to 3 m with branches in a close cluster and tough leathery pointed small leaves. White flowers. Found in shrubland and bogs.


2. (noun) broad-leaved mingimingi, Leucopogon fasciculatus, prickly mingimingi, Leptecophylla juniperina - native shrubs with small, narrow leaves which alternate or are in tufts, prickly to touch. Fruit is red, pink or white and the bark is black.

taritari āwhā

1. (noun) spiderwood, Dracophyllum latifolium - native shrub to 10 m which looks a little like a cabbage tree, having clusters of long tapering leaves at the tips of their branches. Found in northern North Island to as far south as Taranaki and Lake Waikaremoana and in the South Island from Puponga to the Nile River in hill and mountain forests.

See also neinei

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