Etymology

Tokelau

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Today it means: Three atolls forming a dependent territory of New Zealand in the South Pacific Ocean. Full definition →

Tokelauan Tokelau ← Proto-Polynesian *tokelau
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The story

  1. Proto-Polynesian · derived from*tokelau“northwesterly”
  2. Tokelauan · derived fromtokelau“north wind”
  3. Tokelauan · borrowed fromTokelau
  4. English todayTokelau

Borrowed from Tokelauan Tokelau, from Tokelauan tokelau (“north wind”), from Proto-Polynesian *tokelau (“northwesterly”). Compare Niuean tokelau (“north”), Māori tokerau (“north”); Rapa Nui tokerau (“wind”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.