Wanganui

W4A1N1G2A1N1U1I1
New Zealand[ˈwɒŋanʉi]

proper noun

A city and territorial authority in Manawatū-Whanganui region, on the west coast of the North Island of New Zealand.

OriginMāori Whanganui →
Less commonScrabble 12
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Meanings

proper noun

alternative Whanganui

  1. A city and territorial authority in Manawatū-Whanganui region, on the west coast of the North Island of New Zealand.
  2. A major river in the Manawatū-Whanganui region, North Island, New Zealand, which flows into the Tasman Sea at Wanganui. Official name: Whanganui River.
  3. A river in the West Coast region, South Island, New Zealand, which also flows into the Tasman Sea.
  4. A locality in the Byron council area, north-eastern New South Wales, Australia.
  5. geographyAn epoch from 5.28 to present million years ago, a subdivision of the Neogene-Quaternary.

Origin

  1. MāoriWhanganui
  2. EnglishWanganui

From Māori Whanganui. The spelling of Sense 1 and Sense 2 reflects a dialectal realization of the ⟨wh⟩ phoneme as [ˀw] in Taranaki and Manawatū-Whanganui.

More words from Māori

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

Wanganui. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Wanganui

MLA

“Wanganui.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Wanganui. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Wanganui,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Wanganui.

Source: Wanganui on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.