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Idioms

Phrases

Proverbs

Loan words

Historical loan words

whakapono

1. (verb) (-hia,-tia) to believe, trust.

E kore pea te tangata e whakapono ki te kīia atu e 640 māero te tere o taua whetū i te hēkene kotahi (TP 1/6/1901:11). / A person would probably never believe it if it was said that the speed of that comet was 640 miles per second.

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2. (modifier) religious, pious.

He wahine whakapono ia. / She was a religious woman.

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3. (noun) faith, creed, belief.

(Te Kōhure Textbook (Ed. 2): 221-235;)

Kāore i hapa tā Te Whitu, tuku ana te wahine i a rātou kia romiromitia, kia mātakitakitia e te hātana, ā, kia takakinotia i te nui o tō rātou whakapono ki ngā mahi tohunga (TP 10/1904:2). / Nothing that Te Whitu had said was missed, the women allowed themselves to be massaged and gazed at by the heathen and to be abused because of their belief in the witchcraft.

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whakapono tūpato-kore

1. (noun) credulity, gullibility.

Nā tana mahi ki te whāngai i ō rātou whakataputaputanga, i ō rātou whakapono tūpato-kore rānei, i taiope atu ai ngā Māori ki a ia (TTR 1996:224). / Through her practice of feeding their superstitions or credulity, Māori flocked to her.

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