Etymology

waitoreke

W4A1I1T1O1R1E1K5E1

Today it means: A cryptid of New Zealand, said variously to be a mammal resembling an otter, platypus or beaver, and to live in rivers. Full definition →

Proto-Eastern Polynesian *wai ← Proto-Nuclear Polynesian *wai ← Proto-Polynesian *wai
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The story

  1. Proto-Malayo-Polynesian · derived from*wahiʀ
  2. Proto-Central-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian · derived from*waiʀ
  3. Proto-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian · derived from*waiʀ
  4. Proto-Oceanic · derived from*waiʀ
  5. Proto-Polynesian · derived from*wai
  6. Proto-Nuclear Polynesian · derived from*wai
  7. Proto-Eastern Polynesian · derived from*wai“water”
  8. English todaywaitoreke

Borrowed from Māori. The etymology is disputed. The first syllable is probably from Proto-Eastern Polynesian *wai (“water”), from Proto-Nuclear Polynesian *wai, from Proto-Polynesian *wai, from Proto-Oceanic *waiʀ, from Proto-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian *waiʀ, from Proto-Central-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian *waiʀ, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *wahiʀ. Māori toreke (“be left behind, forsaken”) can be found in dictionaries.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.