tane

T1A1N1E1

proper noun

The god of forests and trees; brother of Tangaroa, Rongo and others.

Similar
Tāne-mahutaTāne-nui-a-RangiTāne-te-waiora
UncommonScrabble 4

Meanings

tane1

verb

alternative ta'en

  1. ScotlandalternativearchaicAlternative form of taken.

    Would it not grieue a King to be so abuſ’d? / And haue a thouſand horſmen tane away?

    c. 1587–1588 (date written), [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire; London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act II, scene ii
    1 more example

    Ophe[lia]. He hath my Lord of late made many tenders / Of his affection to me. / […] / Pol[onius]. Marry I vvill teach you, thinke your ſelfe a babie / That you haue tane theſe tenders for true pay / VVhich are not ſterling, tender your ſelfe more dearely […]

    c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, The Tragicall Historie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke: […] (Second Quarto), London: […] I[ames] R[oberts] for N[icholas] L[ing] […], published 1604, →OCLC, [Act I, scene iii], signature [C4], verso

Tane2

proper noun

alternative Tāne

  1. Polynesian mythology; Maori mythology; Polynesian mythology; Maori mythologyThe god of forests and trees; brother of Tangaroa, Rongo and others.
    3 more examples

    1986 [1979, W. H. Smith & Sons (Windward)], Arthur Cotterell, A Dictionary of World Mythology, Oxford University Press, page 270, One of the great conflict myths in Polynesia was the struggle between [the sky god] Atea and Tane-mahuta, which the Maoris conceived of as the separation of the sky father from the earth mother, Rangi and Papa respectively. The Tuamotu islanders believed that Atea tried to capture the young god Tane, and sent a host of lesser deities after him. After Tane escaped from his pursuers on earth and wandered the clouds, he became so hungry that he killed and ate one of his ancestors, which was the beginning of cannibalism. On reaching manhood, Tane declared war on the sky god and, using the thunderbolts of his ancestor Fatu-tiri, 'thunder', he slew Atea.

    1995 [1994, The Encyclopedia of Creation Myths, ABC-CLIO], David Adams Leeming, Margaret Adams Leeming, A Dictionary of Creation Myths, Oxford University Press, page 228, The various offspring of Rangi and Papa, led by the forest god, Tane, and the ocean god, Tangaroa, argued over what to do. Some chose to go to land, others chose going out to sea. Tane gave his children canoes and nets so they might catch the children of Tangaroa, and sometimes Tangaroa swallowed up Tane’s people. It is still this way today between the children of Tane and Tangaroa.

    According to the [Maori] myth ,Tane, the Polynesian god of the forests, first separates earth and sky and then creates his wife from the red clay that contains his parents' blood. Tane and his wife, the first woman in the world, give birth to a daughter Hine Titama, and when Tane and Hine Titama also give birth to children, they become the ancestors of the Maori people.

    2004, Lorena Laura Stookey, Thematic Guide to World Mythology, Greenwood Press, page 88

    Synonyms: Tāne-mahuta, Tāne-nui-a-Rangi, Tāne-te-waiora

  2. Tahitian mythologyThe god of peace and beauty.

Synonyms & antonyms

proper nounThe god of forests and trees; brother of Tangaroa, Rongo and others.

Similar
Tāne-mahutaTāne-nui-a-RangiTāne-te-waiora

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

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

Chicago

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

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