Definitions of Māori words used in New Zealand English

Aotearoa
(literally, ao = cloud, tea = white, pale, roa = long). This could be translated as (the) long white cloud. It does not mean “Land of the Long White Cloud”. In Māori that would be Te Whenua o Aotearoa.

As with many Māori place names, the context from which the name derives is important. Traditional accounts suggest that Hine-te-aparangi, wife of well known pacific navigator/explorer Kupe, after a long ocean going voyage, sighted a particular cloud aotea that usually indicates the presence of land. The term roa can also indicate a length of time. Thus, a more accurate translation could be ‘It has been a long time since seeing a cloud that indicates land’.

Aotearoa is commonly given as the Māori name for New Zealand. Before the arrival of Europeans to the New Zealand, it probably only referred to the Te Ika a Maui (i.e., the North Island).

hui
assembly, gathering (noun) to gather, to assemble (verb), generally applies to a group of people.

iwi
tribe

karakia
prayer, spiritual incantation.

kōhanga reo
(literally, reo =language, kōhanga = nest)  Māori immersion pre-school (years 0 to 4).

kura kaupapa Māori
(literally, kura = school, kaupapa = principle or theme)  Māori immersion school based on Māori practices and philosophies.

mahi
work or an activity.

mana
dictionaries usually translate this as ‘authority, prestige, pride, or status’. Fluent speakers of Māori are aware that this concept in Māori can mean something else that is not always expressed well by the English translations.

Māori
indigenous inhabitants of New Zealand, the language of the indigenous inhabitants of New Zealand.

Pākehā
European inhabitants living in New Zealand, any non-Māori. Despite much debate, including many spurious myths, the origins of this term remain unclear.

Te Papa
(literally, te = the, papa = flat (surface/area)) Māori name of a museum in Wellington, which was opened in 1998.

te reo Māori
(literally, te = the, reo = language) The Māori language.

tino rangatiratanga
(literally, rangatira = chief, -tanga is a nominalising suffix, tino is an intensifier). Used to refer to concepts such as sovereignity, self determination, autonomy.

waka
Traditionally this means canoe, vehicle or vessel. Sometimes used figuratively to mean a group, party or theme.

whānau
Traditionally this refers to an extended family. Also used in modern times to refer to the nuclear family. Can be used in both literal and figurative senses and is often applied to other groups of people or organisations.

wharekura
(literally, whare = building, kura = school) Often used in modern Māori to refer to the secondary component of a kura kaupapa Māori.