Word origins

• porotitiA kind of pump drill used in the Maori culture.
• poupouA wall panel located under the veranda of a wharenui, generally carved with ancestral emblems.
• puckerooBroken, not working.
• puhaAny of various Eurasian sowthistles of the genus Sonchus, used as a vegetable by Māori people; especially the prickly sowthistle, Sonchus asper.
• pukanuiSynonym of puka (“Meryta sinclairii”).
• pukateaLaurelia novae-zelandiae, a tree of New Zealand.
• pūkekoAustralasian swamphen (Porphyrio melanotus).
• Pukerua BayA coastal community and bay north of Porirua, Wellington region, New Zealand.
• puririVitex lucens, an evergreen tree endemic to New Zealand.
• putangitangiSynonym of paradise shelduck.
• rahuiIn Māori and Polynesian culture, restriction of access to a place, as a form of taboo.
• rangatiraA hereditary Māori leader of a kinship group; a chieftain or high-born Maori.
• rangatiratangachieftainship; sovereignty
• raupoA species of reed, Typha orientalis; bulrush; cumbungi.
• rawaruA fish, the blue cod (Parapercis colias).
• rengarengaArthropodium cirratum, a herbaceous perennial plant endemic to New Zealand.
• reremaiThe basking shark.
• rewarewaA tall evergreen tree, Knightia excelsa, endemic to New Zealand, with leathery leaves and red flowers.
• rewenaA traditional Maori sourdough potato bread.
• riroriroA grey warbler, of the species Gerygone igata.
• rowiThe Okarito brown kiwi, Apteryx rowi.
• tahuaA pile of food presented as a gift.
• taiahaA traditional Māori wooden staff weapon, used for short, sharp strikes or stabbing thrusts, usually decorated on one end.
• taihoaSlow and cautious; gradual.
• takahēA species of large flightless bird in the Rallidae family, endemic to New Zealand.
• tanekahaPhyllocladus trichomanoides, a coniferous tree endemic to New Zealand.
• tangata whenuaLocal or indigenous people; specifically, the Maori.
• tangihangaA Maori funeral.
• tarakihiA fish, Nemadactylus macropterus, between 30 and 60 centimeters long and found off the coast of Australia and South America.
• tauaA group of Maori warriors sent out as a war party.
• tauhouA silvereye, a bird of species Zosterops lateralis.
• TaumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateaturipukakapikimaungahoronukupokaiwhenuakitanatahuA hill near Pōrangahau, in Hawke's Bay, New Zealand.
• taupataCoprosma repens, a flowering shrub or small tree of New Zealand.
• tautokoTo support.
• tawariA bushy tree of species Ixerba brexioides, endemic to the northern half of the North Island of New Zealand.
• tawaroaBeilschmiedia tawaroa, a New Zealand broadleaf tree.
• tawhaiSynonym of silver beech.
• tawhiwhiSynonym of kohuhu (“the tree Pittosporum tenuifolium”).
• Te Moana-a-ToiA bay and sea in the Bay of Plenty region, North Island, New Zealand.
• tena koeA greeting (to a single person)
• te reoThe Māori language.
• tikanga MaoriMaori customs and values, considered as a collective body of belief and behaviour.
• tino rangatiratangaself-determination; absolute sovereignty (of the Maori people)
• tirairakaThe New Zealand fantail (Rhipidura fuliginosa).
• titipounamuThe rifleman (bird), Acanthisitta chloris.
• titokiAlectryon excelsus, a New Zealand tree found in lowland forests.
• tiwakawakaThe New Zealand fantail (Rhipidura fuliginosa).
• toatoaHaloragis erecta (shrubby haloragis, erect seaberry).
• toetoeAny of various tall grasses native to New Zealand, especially of the genus Austroderia.
• toheroaPaphies ventricosa, a large edible bivalve mollusc endemic to New Zealand.
• tohungaA Māori chosen to be a specialist in a specific skilled field; especially, a priest.
• tohutōA macron in Maori.
• tokoekaA kiwi, Apteryx australis.
• tororaroAny of various plants of the genus Muehlenbeckia.
• tororiMaori tobacco.
• towaiThe tree Pterophylla sylvicola.
• tuakanaIn Maori contexts, the elder brother of a male or the elder sister of a female; also, a same-sex cousin of a more senior branch of the family; (loosely), a mentor.
• tuatuaOne of the species Paphies subtriangulata of edible bivalve clams.
• tuparaA double-barrelled gun.
• tupunaAn ancestor, especially a grandparent, in Maori culture.
• turangawaewaeIn Māori culture: the place where one belongs or has a right to live; one's own land; also, the sense of freedom, identity, and spiritual connection associated with this place.
• upokororoA New Zealand fish, Prototroctes oxyrhynchus in the family Haplochitonidae, rather like a trout.
• urupaIn Māori culture, a burial ground.
• wairuaA spirit associated with a person or thing, according to Māori beliefs.
• warehouAny of the three medusafishes: Seriolella brama (the common warehou), Seriolella caerulea (the white warehou), and Seriolella punctata (the silver warehou).
• wekauAn extinct small New Zealand owl with short wings and long legs that lived chiefly on the ground (†Sceloglaux albifacies).
• weroA traditional Māori challenge, performed to ensure that visitors come in peace.
• weweiaSynonym of dabchick.
• whaikoreroformal speechmaking in the Māori culture
• whangaiA traditional Maori form of adoption practised within the extended family.
• wharangiAny of species Melicope ternata, of coastal shrubs or small trees in the Rutaceae family, native to New Zealand.
• wharekaiThe dining hall in a marae.
• wharenuiAn ornamental Maori meeting house representing the body of a tupuna, forming part of the larger marae complex.
• wharepuniA large building in Maori communities for communal sleeping or for group meetings; a meeting house.
• whare wānangaFormerly, a type of traditional Maori school.
• whauEntelea arborescens, a malvaceous tree endemic to New Zealand.
• whekaulaughing owl
• whekiDicksonia squarrosa, a fast-growing tree fern endemic to New Zealand.
• whioThe blue duck (Hymenolaimus malacorhynchos) of New Zealand.