Meanings
nounweta (plural weta or wetas)
plural wetas
- New ZealandAny of about 70 insect species in the families Anostostomatidae and Rhaphidophoridae, endemic to New Zealand, resembling katydids or crickets.
It also carried […] the forebears of wētā insects and the worm-caterpillar peripatus.
2003, Michael King, The Penguin History of Aotearoa New Zealand, Penguin, published 2023, page 101 more example
We came to know by heart […] her excitement on her first day at school at seeing a weta crawling on brother Willy's knee (‘Oooh, look on Willy's knee!’) […].
1982, Janet Frame, An Angel at my Table, Virago, published 2024, page 5
Origin
- Māoriwētā
- Englishweta
Borrowed from Māori wētā.
More words from Māori
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Māori wētā
- wētāNew Zealand insect
Russian уэ́та
- уэ́та (uéta)New Zealand insect
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with weta
metadebtorzetaMariettarosettaLorettaPetaHenriettavendettaEttabettagetterfetapettervetternetterQuettabruschettabettorIsletaLaurettaCaltanissettaariettaabettor
All rhymes →Anagrams
Cite this entry
APA
weta. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/weta
MLA
“weta.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/weta. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “weta,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/weta.
Source: weta on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.