Māori Word Lists
Level 1
āporo - apple
aroha - love, sympathy, compassion
ata - morning, shadow
au - I, me; cloud, smoke; current (of river or sea)
awa - river, stream
haka - to perform traditional dance; haka, a traditional dance, war dance
hāngi - traditional earth oven
hapū - subtribe; to be pregnant
hau - wind, air, breath
heihei - chicken
hēki - egg
hīkoi - to walk, step, tread
hoa - friend; partner; spouse
hoki - to go back, return; also, indeed
horoi - to wash, to clean
hū - shoe
hui - meeting; gathered
ihu - nose
ingoa - name
iti - small, little
iwa - nine
iwi - tribe
kai - eat (v); food (n)
kāinga - home
karaka - orange (colour)
karakia - prayer, to pray
karanga - to call
kaumātua - elder; elderly
kēmu - game
kino - bad
kite - to see
koe - you, one person
koha - gift
kōrero - to talk, speak
koroua - elderly man, grandfather
koti - coat, jacket
kupu - word
kura - school; treasured item
kurī - dog
mahi - to do, work, make
makawe - hair of the head (human, used in plural: ngā makawe)
mana - prestige, authority
manawa - heart
manu - bird
manuhiri - guest
māra - garden
marae - traditional Māori gathering place
matua - parent, father
maunga - mountain
mauri - life spirit
moana - sea
moe - sleep; to marry
motu - island (n); cut (v), cut off (adj)
mua - front, before
muri - behind, after
mutu - be ended, finished (but not necessarily completed)
ngeru - cat
niho - tooth
noho - to live; sit
nui - big, great, many
one - beach, sand
ora - alive, well, healthy, safe
pā - a fortified settlement (n); to touch (v)
Pākehā - New Zealander of European descent
pāpā - father, uncle
pikitia - picture, film
poto - short
puke - hill
puku - stomach, belly
rangatira - chief, leader, boss
raro - under, below; time
ringa - hand, arm
roa - long
rohe - district, area, boundary, territory
roto - in, inside, within; lake
Taihoa! - Hang on!
tama - son, nephew (term of address for a boy, son: tama)
tamaiti - child
tāne - man, male
tāngata - people (plural of tangata)
tangi - to cry; to make a sound
tapu - sacred, holy, under ritual restriction
tarau - trousers
tau - to land, settle; be calm; to attack; lover; handsome; year; age; number
tēina - younger brothers of a male, younger sisters of a female
tēnei - this (by speaker); this is; this
tipuna - grandparent, ancestor
toa - shop; male animal; expert; to be strong
tungāne - brother, of a female
upoko - head; verse of a song; paragraph; chapter
wāhine - women, wives (plural form of wahine)
wai - water; who
waiata - to sing (v); song (n)
waka - vehicle (land, air and sea)
whakapapa - genealogy
wharepaku - toilet
whenua - land