maitai
1. (noun) iron, steel, cutlery, metal.
Kāore i roa i muri mai ka tae mai ngā hōia, ka whakaaratia anō e rātau taua pou haki, ka kaha atu hoki te mahinga i tō mua hanganga, arā, ka hangaia ki te maitai (TPH 30/6/1903:4). / Not long after that the soldiers arrived, that flag pole was re-erected and it was built stronger that that of before, that is it was built of steel.
2. (stative) be foreign.
Ko ngā wheua o te hunga maitai i patua nei he mea mahi hei tīrou kai, ā, ko ngā wheua o ngā hūhā he mea mahi hei tōrino, arā, hei rehu (TAH 51:17). / The bones of the foreigners who had been killed were made into forks for picking up food, and the thigh bones were made into flutes.
3. (modifier) good, beautiful, agreeable.
2. (noun) deaf person, deaf ears, stubborn person.
2. (noun) argillite, metamorphosed indurated mudstone - a dark grey stone often used for weapons and sometimes musical instruments. Particularly associated with the Nelson-Marlborough region, Rangitoto (D'Urville Island), along the Whangamoa mineral belt, and in the upper reaches of the Maitai, Wairoa and Motueka Rivers.
Kua kitea ētahi i hangaia mai i te pakohe me te tangiwai (Te Ara 2012). / Some have been found made of argillite and bowenite.
3. (noun) weapon made of argillite.
