Meanings
plural tangis
- New ZealandFuneral rites; a funeral ceremony, a tangihanga.First known use 19th c.
He goes on to say that the Government, The Maori Sanitary Councils, and the Native Land Court have endeavoured to prevent Maori tangis lasting for more than three or four days […].
1906, The District Court and Magistrate's Court Reports1 more example
Late in the nineteenth century Māori women began to adopt the Victorian mourning costume of black clothes for tangi, and the practice continued long after Pākehā New Zealanders had dropped the custom.
2003, Michael King, The Penguin History of Aotearoa New Zealand, Penguin, published 2023, page 243
Origin
- Proto-Austronesian*Caŋis
- Proto-Malayo-Polynesian*taŋis
- Proto-Central-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian*taŋis
- Proto-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian*taŋis
- Proto-Oceanic*taŋis
- Proto-Polynesian*taŋi
- Māoritangi
- Englishtangi
Borrowed from Māori tangi (“lament, mourning, funeral ceremony”).
More words from Māori
Full word history & related roots →Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
tangi. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tangi
“tangi.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tangi. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “tangi,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tangi.
Source: tangi on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.