Meanings
nounkainga (plural kaingas)
plural kaingas · alternative kaik · alternative kaika
- New ZealandhistoricalA Maori village.First known use 19th c.
He's not on the first beach round from the kaika.
1983, Keri Hulme, The Bone People, Penguin, published 1986, page 2351 more example
When I write that scores of houses have been burnt, whole villages renovated, kaingas fenced in, poakas and dogs fenced out […]
1904, Appendix to the Journals of the House of Representatives..., New Zealand. Parliament. House of Representatives, page 62
Origin
- Proto-Polynesian*kaaiŋa
- Māorikāinga
- Englishkainga
Borrowed from Māori kāinga. Doublet of ʻāina.
More words from Māori
Full word history & related roots →Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
APA
kainga. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/kainga
MLA
“kainga.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/kainga. Accessed November 3, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “kainga,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/kainga.
Source: kainga on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.