A Māori word a day

365 useful words and phrases in te reo Māori

These words and phrases have been compiled and recorded by Martin Wikaira. See 100 Māori words every New Zealander should know for more words and a pronunciation guide.

Categories: Holidays and anniversaries; days, months and seasons; the marae; greetings; protocols, roles, emotions and characteristics; families and people; places; numbers; natural world; sport; iwi; government organisations; food and drink; body parts; shops, buildings, rooms etc; transport; other useful words and phrases

Holidays and anniversaries

• Tau-hou – New Year
• Parairei Pai – Good Friday (also, Paraire)
• Aranga – Easter Sunday
• Rā Maumahara ki nga hoia o Aotearoa me Ahitereiria – Anzac Day
• Rā whanau o te Kuini o Ingarangi – Queen’s Birthday
• Matariki – beginning of Maori New Year, Pleiades
• Kirihimete – Christmas
• Ā-tau – annual
• Hararei – holiday
• Whakatā – rest
• Whakanui – celebrate
• Koha – present
• Hana kōkō – Father Christmas
• Hākari – feast

Days, months and seasons

• Rāhina; Mane – Monday
• Rātū; Tūrei – Tuesday
• Rāapa; Wenerei – Wednesday
• Rāpare; Taite – Thursday
• Rāmere; Paraire – Friday
• Rāhoroi – Saturday
• Rātapu – Sunday
• Kohitātea – January
• Hui-tanguru – February; also Pepuere
• Poutū-te-rangi – March
• Paenga-Whāwhā – April
• Haratua – May
• Pipiri – June
• Hōngongoi – July
• Hereturi-kōkā – August 
• Mahuru – September
• Whiringa-ā-nuku – October
• Whiringa-ā-rangi – November
• Hakihea – December
• Ngahuru – autumn
• Raumati  – summer
• Takurua – winter
• Kōanga – spring

The marae

• Whakatau – visit
• Manuhiri – visitor, guest
• Paepae – speaking seats for both visitors and hosts are referred to as paepae
• Hui – meeting of any kind, conference or gathering
• Marae – complex that includes meeting house, dining hall, forecourt, etc.
• Tangihanga – funeral ceremony where a body is mourned on the marae
• Tangi – shortened version of tangihanga. Also means to cry or to mourn
• Karanga – the protocol of calling guests onto marae. Women do the calling.
• Manuhiri – guests or visitors to the marae
• Tangata whenua – hosts, local people, people of the land
• Kaikōrero – speaker, one who does a speech
• Haka – chant with dance for the purpose of challenge
• Waiata – song or chant which follows a speech. Could be a haka.
• Koha – gift, present. Usually money, can be food or precious items, given by guests to hosts
• Whare nui – meeting house, big house for communal gathering, sleeping house
• Whare whakairo – carved meeting house
• Whare kai – dining hall, eating place; often used for meetings
• Wharepaku – small house; ablution block, toilets and shower room
• Whare horoi – bathroom

Greetings

• Nau mai – welcome
• E noho rā – farewell (from a person leaving)
• Haere mai – Welcome! Enter!
• Haere rā – farewell, goodbye (from someone staying)
• Hei konā rā – farewell, goodbye (less formal)
• Ka kite – see you again, see you soon (informal)
• Kia ora – can mean hello, hi, greetings, or to acknowledge or thank someone
• Tēnā koe – formal greeting to one person
• Tēnā kōrua – formal greeting to two people
• Tēnā koutou – formal greeting to more than two people
• Mōrena – good morning; also atamarie
• Pōmarie – goodnight or good evening
• Tēnā tātou katoa – formal inclusive greeting, including oneself

Protocols, roles, emotions and characteristics

• Aroha – compassion, tenderness, sustaining love
• Ihi – power, authority, essential force
• Mana – authority, power; influence, reputation
• Mauri – hidden essential life force or a symbol of this
• Noa – safe from tapu (see below), non-sacred, not tabooed
• Tino rangatiratanga – the highest possible independent chiefly authority, paramount authority
• Whaikōrero – art and practice of speech-making
• Manaakitanga – respect for hosts or kindness to guests
• Taihoa – to delay, to wait, to hold off to allow maturation of plans, etc. 
• Tapu – sacred, not to be touched, to be avoided because sacred, taboo
• Tiaki – to care for, look after, guard (kaitiaki – guardian, trustee)
• Taonga – treasured possessions or cultural items; anything precious
• Raupatu – confiscate, take by force
• Wehi – to be held in awe

Families and people

• Whānau – family
• Matāmua – first-born
• Pōtiki – youngest
• Pāpā – father
• Whaea – mother
• Tamaiti – child
• Tamāhine – daughter
• Tipuna or tupuna – ancestor
• Wahine – woman, wife
• Tamaiti whāngai – adopted child
• Tuakana – older brother of a male
• Tuakana – older sister of a female
• Teina – younger brother of a male
• Teina – younger sister of a female
• Tungāne – brother of a female
• Tuahine – sister of a male
• Kuia – old lady
• Koroua, koro – old man
• Whanaunga – blood relation
• Kaumātua – elder of group
• Whakapapa – family tree, genealogy
• Whāngai – fostered or adopted child
• Tāne – man, husband
• Tamariki – children
• Tama – son, young man, youth
• Rangatira – person of chiefly rank, boss, owner
• Pākehā – people of European origin, non-Māori
• Ngāi Tātou – a way of referring to everyone present
• Iwi – people, nation: modern usage, tribal bones
• Hapū – clan, tribe, also sub-tribe or to be born

Places

• Taone-nui – city
• Huarahi – roadway, highway
• Waitangi – a national celebration of the Treaty of Waitangi; weeping waters
• Rohe – boundary, a territory (either geographical or spiritual) of an iwi or hapū
• Tūrangawaewae – a place to stand, a place to belong to, a seat or location of identity
• Whenua – land, homeland, country; also afterbirth, placenta
• Te Reinga – northern tip of New Zealand
• Kaitaia – far north town with Dalmatian settlers
• Paihia – idyllic tourist place in far north, next to Waitangi
• Hokianga – early Māori explorers used harbour as returning place 
• Whāngārei – city in far north near oil refinery
• Akarana – Auckland, also known as Tamaki Makaurau
• Waikato – river and district south of Auckland
• Tainui – tribal confederation of Waikato people
• Rangiriri – historic redoubt in Waikato
• Ngāruawāhia – home of the Tainui King Tuheitia
• Kirikiriroa – Hamilton
• Ahuriri – Napier
• Hauraki – tribe to the east of Waikato
• Tauranga – Bay of Plenty city, home of Ngati Ranginui and Ngai te Rangi
• Rotorua – tourist city with natural hot pools and Maori cultural activities
• Taupō – situated north of large central lake of same name. Often incorrectly pronounced
• Tūrangi – town at south end of Lake Taupo. Home of Ngati Tuwharetoa.
• Kāwhia – west coast settlement where Tainui waka landed
• Tūranga – Gisborne
• Heretaunga – Hastings
• Whakatāne – town in the eastern Bay of Plenty
• Whanganui – town and river
• Taranaki – mountain to the west
• Tongariro – mountain of central North Island
• Ruapehu – mountain of central North Island
• Papa-i-oea – Palmerston North
• Paraparaumu – often incorrectly pronounced
• Te Awa Kairangi – Hutt Valley
• Te Whanganui a Tara – Wellington
• Te Moana o Raukawa – Cook Strait
• Whakatū – Nelson. To stand and make a speech
• Waiharakeke – Blenheim. Place where flax grows
• Kaikōura – aptly named because of the abundance of crayfish
• Ōtautahi – Christchurch. Name for the river Avon
• Ōtepoti – Dunedin. Place situated at a corner
• Aoraki – Mt Cook. Sky piercer
• Te Waipounamu – South Island
• Rakiura – Stewart Island
• Te Ara a Kiwa – Foveaux Strait
• Te Tai Poutini – West Coast (of the South Island)
• Wharekauri – Chatham Islands, also known as Rēkohu
• Manapōuri – lake and hydro dam in the South Island
• Wānaka – lake in the South Island
• Wakatipu – place to rebuild tribal strength
• Ruapuke – two hills; two prominent features on an island
• Kaiapoi – to swing food
• Arahura – path of discovery
• Waitaki – weeping waters
• Moeraki – a place for sleep by day
• Ōamaru – place of the god Maru
• Timaru – cabbage-tree shelter
• Motueka – woodhens in a grove of trees
• Temuka – a fierce (hot) oven
• Ōmarama – place of light
• Hokitika – return directly
• ō or o – means ‘of’ (so does a, ā); many names begin with ō, meaning the place of so-and-so, e.g., ōkahukura, ōkiwi, ōhau, etc.

Numbers

• Tahi – one
• Rua – two
• Toru – three
• Whā – four
• Rima – five
• Ono – six
• Whitu – seven
• Waru – eight
• Iwa – nine
• Tekau – 10
• Tekau mā tahi – 11
• Rua tekau – 20
• Iwa tekau – 90
• Iwa tekau mā iwa – 99
• Kotahi rau – 100
• Iwa rau – 900
• Kotahi mano – 1000

Natural world

• Au – current
• Awa – river
• Maunga – mountain; puke is hill, also hiwi. 
• Moana – sea, or large inland ‘sea’, e.g., Taupō
• Mānia – plain, stretch of land
• Pae – ridge, range
• Papa – flat
• Roto – lake; inside
• Wai – water
• Whanga – harbour, bay
• Motu – island
• Repo – swamp
• Manga – stream, creek
• One – sand, earth at the beach
• Wai-hīrere – waterfall
• Ngaru – wave (in water)
• Tomo – cave or hole in ground
• Ngahere – forest
• Arawhata – bridge
• Koraha – desert
• Awa-awa – valley
• Pari – cliff
• Āhua o te rangi – climate
• Waipuke – flood
• Whakahukapapa – freeze
• Mākūkū – damp
• Hukapapa – frost; huka – snow
• Pāhekeheke – slippery
• Hukarere – sleet
• Āniwaniwa – rainbow
• Ngātata – landslip. Titiro ki te ngātata. Look at the landslip.
• Patapata ua – raindrop. Kua heke te patapata ua. The rain is falling.
• Makariri – cold. Kei te makariri au. I am cold.

Sport

• Whutupōro – rugby (football)
• Rīki – rugby league
• Hau paoro – golf
• Whana poikiri– soccer (association football)
• Neti pōro – netball
• Hōki – hockey
• Pahiketepōro – basketball

Iwi

• Kahungunu ki Wairarapa – iwi
• Kahungunu ki Heretaunga – iwi
• Ngāti Porou – iwi
• Whānau ā Apanui – iwi
• Whakatohea – iwi
• Ngai Tūhoe – iwi
• Ngāti Awa – iwi
• Ngāti Tūwharetoa – iwi
• Kahungunu ki Wairoa – iwi
• Tainui – iwi
• Ngāpuhi – iwi
• Ngāti Whātua – iwi
• Hauraki – iwi
• Taranaki – iwi 
• Whanganui – iwi
• Ngāti Raukawa – iwi
• Muaūpoko – iwi
• Rangitāne – iwi
• Toa Rangatira – iwi
• Kāi Tahu – iwi, also known as Ngai Tahu  
• Te Tauihu – tribes of the north of the South Island
• Waitaha – early South Island tribe
• Te Taurapa – tribes of the southern end of the South Island

Government organisations

• Te Tāhuhu o te Mātauranga – Ministry of Education
• Te Papa Atawhai – Department of Conservation
• Te Manatū Aorere – Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade
• Whare Paremata – Parliament
• Whare Kōti Matua – Supreme Court
• Te Taura Whiri – Maori Language Commission
• Te Papa Tongarewa – national museum in Wellington
• Te Puni Kōkiri – Ministry of Maori Development

Food and drink

• Kai – food. E kai – command to eat
• Inu – drink. E inu
• Hoko – buy (as in buy ice cream)
• Rīwai – potatoes; also taewa
• Mīti – meat
• Heihei – chicken
• Mīti poaka – pork
• Ika – fish
• Ika me te riwai – fish and chips
• Hua whenua – vegetables
• Hua rākau – fruit
• Hua manu – egg; also hēki
• Pēkana – bacon
• Tōhi – toast
• Tōtiti – sausage
• Miraka – milk
• Kirīmi – cream
• Huka – sugar
• Tiamu – jam
• Pata – butter
• Tīhi – cheese
• Āporo – apple
• Ārani – orange
• Panana – banana
• Pea – pear
• Kapu – cup
• Karaehe – glass
• Naihi – knife
• Pune – spoon
• Pereti – plate 
• Pouaka hukapapa – fridge
• Umu – stove
• Hiakai – hungry. Kei te hiakai au. I am hungry.
• Hiainu – thirsty. Kei te hiainu au. I am thirsty.

Body parts

• Pāpāringa – cheek (on face)
• Makawe – hair
• Rae – brow, forehead
• Kauae – chin
• Māhunga – head; also upoko
• Matimati – finger
• Manawa – heart
• Niho – teeth
• Poho – chest
• Puku – belly, stomach
• Ārero – tongue
• Ringa – hand, arm
• Toto – blood
• Kanohi – face
• Turi – knee; also pona
• Whatu – eye
• Ihu – nose 
• Kakī – neck
• Taringa – ear
• Waewae – foot, feet, leg, legs

Shops, buildings, rooms, etc.

• Poutāpeta – post office
• Toa hokomaha – supermarket
• Pēke – bank
• Wharemīti – butcher
• Kaihoko rongoā – chemist; also kēmihi
• Toa hoko miraka – dairy
• Toa hua rākau – fruit shop
• Wharepukapuka – library
• Whare rūnanga – boardroom
• Wāhi kai – cafeteria
• Wharehui – conference room
• Whare kīhini – kitchen
• Ararewa – lift
• Wāhi whakatau – reception
• Tari – office 
• Pātaka – storeroom

Transport

• Pahi – bus
• Tereina – train
• Teihana – station
• Waka – boat 
• Motuka – car
• Paihikara – bicycle
• Taraka – truck
• Tarakihana – tractor
• Waka noho – caravan
• Waka-rererangi – aeroplane

Some other useful words and phrases

• Te koretake hoki – how useless!
• Iti – small, little; also poto, short
• Nui – large, big; roa, long
• Tomokanga – gateway; also waharoa
• Mihini mahana – heater
• Koti mahana – warm coat. Whakamau tōu koti mahana. Wear your warm coat.
• Koti ua – raincoat
• Pōtae ua – rainhat. Whakamau tōu potae ua. Wear your rainhat.
• Hei aha atu – Don’t worry.
• Hiamoe – sleepy, tired. Kei te hiamoe au. I am tired.
• Ākuanei – soon, or in a while
• Oma – run. E oma.
• Rere – fly. E rere, to fly.
• Hīkoi – walk
• Peke – jump. E peke, command to jump
• Karakia – prayer
• Komiti – committee
• Kaitono – applicant
• Kaiāwhina – assistant
• Hoamahi – colleague

See also: He Kupu o te Rā - a Māori word a day website