Meanings
plural kahawais
- New ZealandAn edible marine fish, Arripis trutta, found around the southeastern coast of Australia and New Zealand, having a dark bluish-green body with indistinct rows of spots forming narrow irregular bands on the upper sides.
Māori oratory of those years began to employ proverbs about […] the propensity of the kahawai for devouring the mullet.
2003, Michael King, The Penguin History of Aotearoa New Zealand, Penguin, published 2023, page 168Synonyms: Australian salmon
Synonyms & antonyms
nounAn edible marine fish, Arripis trutta, found around the southeastern coast of Australia and New Zealand, having a dark bluish-green body with indistinct rows of spots forming narrow irregular bands on the upper sides.
Origin
- Māorikahawai
- Englishkahawai
Borrowed from Māori kahawai.
More words from Māori
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
kahawai. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/kahawai
“kahawai.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/kahawai. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “kahawai,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/kahawai.
Source: kahawai on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.