Meanings
utu1
- New ZealanduncountableCompensation for a wrong suffered; reciprocal exchange or payment; (loosely), payback, revenge.First known use 19th c.
The match had been touted as a chance for utu after the 1999 and 2007 All Blacks World Cup defeats.
2011 September 19, Andrew Alderson, New Zealand Herald2 more examples
Utu determined that relations among individuals, and between families, communities and tribes, were governed by mutual obligation and an implicit keeping of social accounts […].
2003, Michael King, The Penguin History of Aotearoa New Zealand, Penguin, published 2023, page 68Utu demanded that both favors and grievances be repaid in kind, but it was the grievances, naturally, that caused the most trouble.
2008, Christina Thompson, Come on Shore and We Will Kill and Eat You All, Bloomsbury, published 2009, page 129
UTU2
- abbreviationinitialismInitialism of Ulster Teachers' Union.
- abbreviationinitialismInitialism of United Transportation Union.
- abbreviationinitialismInitialism of University of Turku.
Utu3
- human sciencesA Sumerian deity, the son of the moon god Nanna and the goddess Ningal.
Origin
utu · noun
- Māoriutu
- Māoriutu
- Englishutu
Borrowed from Māori utu.
More words from Māori
Full word history & related roots →Utu · proper noun
- Sumerian𒀭𒌓“Utu”
- EnglishUtu
From Sumerian 𒀭𒌓 (ᵈutu, “Utu”).
More words from Sumerian
Full word history & related roots →Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
utu. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/utu
“utu.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/utu. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “utu,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/utu.
Source: utu on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.