Māori Word Lists
Level 2
ahiahi - early evening, afternoon
akoranga - thing that is taught or learnt; lesson
āku - my, mine (pl, for ā category items, plural form of tāku)
ārai - curtain; to screen off, block
arero - tongue; point of taiaha
aroha - love, sympathy, compassion
āta - gently, carefully, deliberately
atu - away from current orientation
(often not translatable by a separate English word)
aua - those (previously mentioned, plural of taua)
ehara - exclamation: sure enough, without a doubt; not
ēnei - these, near me (plural of tēnei)
haka - to perform traditional dance; haka, a traditional dance, war dance
hanga - to build, erect, make (v); construction, practice (n)
hāngi - traditional earth oven
hapa - mistake; supper, dinner
hapū - subtribe; to be pregnant
hari - to feel happy; to take or carry
heke - rafter (n); to descend, get off (v)
here - to tie, to bind (v0: dog lead (n)
hīkoi - to walk, step, tread
hoa - friend; partner; spouse
hoatu - to give (away from speaker)
hōhā - annoyed, bored (adj), a nuisance (n)
hōhonu - deep (adj); depth (n)
hoki - to go back, return; also, indeed
hoko - to buy, sell, purchase
homai - give (to the speaker)
horoi - to wash, to clean
ihi - power, essential force
inu - to drink (v); drink (n)
kaikōrero - speaker, orator (kai- + kōrero)
kāore - negative used for verb sentences
kāti - stop! (as in: kāti te tangi)
kaupapa - topic, theme, plan, subject
kia ora - hello; thank you; be well
kitea - seen (kite + passive suffix -a)
kiwi - native bird of Aotearoa
kohi - to collect, gather together
konā - there, by listener
koro - term of address for an elderly man, grandfather (E koro)
koroua - elderly man, grandfather
koutou - you, three or more people
kōwhai - yellow; a native tree
kuhu - to enter, to go or come in
kui - Term of address for an elderly woman (eg 'E kui'.)
kuia - elderly woman, grandmother
kura - school; treasured item
mai - towards the speaker in space or in orientation; to here
makawe - hair of the head (human, used in plural: ngā makawe)
māmā - mother (n); easy, simple (adj)
mana - prestige, authority
manaaki - to look after, to show hospitality towards
Māori - indigenous people of Aotearoa/New Zealand
marae - traditional Māori gathering place
mātakitaki - to watch, to observe, examine, inspect
matau - fish hook; right side
mate - to be sick, ill, dead
mātua - parents, fathers (plural form of matua)
māua - we, us (two people, excluding addressee)
mea - a thing (n); to say (v)
mehemea - if (presuming not; cf. ki te, if, expressing simple uncertainty)
mīharo - to wonder at; amazing
mihi - to greet; thank; acknowledge
moeroa - sleepyhead; to sleep in
motu - island (n); cut (v), cut off (adj)
mutu - be ended, finished (but not necessarily completed)
ora - alive, well, healthy, safe
oranga - health, life
(ora + nominal suffix -nga)
pā - a fortified settlement (n); to touch (v)
pai - good (adj); to like (v); good
pakaru - broken (applied to a thing not a body part) (trans)
Pākehā - New Zealander of European descent
pānui - to read; to publish, advertise; notice, advertisement
paoka - fork; pierce; stab
pātai - question; to ask a question
patu - to strike, hit; to kill
patua - hit/killed (patu + passive suffix -a)
rā - day; the sun; over there
rahi - large, numerous, great, big
rango - fly, blowfly (n); to hear (v)
raro - under, below; time
raupatu - conquest; confiscate; take by force
rawa - Various meanings, eg too, quite, very; really
reira - there (previously mentioned)
rohe - district, area, boundary, territory
rongo - to hear, perceive, feel
roto - in, inside, within; lake
tae - to reach, arrive (v); colour (n)
taka - to come around in a cycle; to fall from a height
tama - son, nephew (term of address for a boy, son: tama)
tamariki - children (plural form of tamaiti)
tāna - his, her, ā category possession, singular
tāngata - people (plural of tangata)
tangi - to cry; to make a sound
tangohia - pick up! (command); taken away (tango + passive suffix -hia)
taokete - brother-in-law (of a male), sister-in-law (of a female)
tapu - sacred, holy, under ritual restriction
tari - government department; office
tātou - we, us, inclusive, three or more people
tau - to land, settle; be calm; to attack; lover; handsome; year; age; number
teina - younger sibling, same sex
teitei - tall, high, lofty; height (object)
tēnā - that, by the listener
tēnā koe! - hello! (to one person); thank you
tēnei - this (by speaker); this is; this
tērā - that over there, that
tere - to flow, float, move quickly; fast
tiaki - to look after, to care for
tika - to be right, correct, straight, in order
tīpuna - grandparents (plural form of tipuna)
tipuna - grandparent, ancestor
tō - your (singular); to drag
toa - shop; male animal; expert; to be strong
tou - dip; plant; set on fire; buttocks, bottom, anus
tū - stand; to be wounded; a wound
tuāhine - female cousins or sisters of a male
tuakana - older sibling of the same sex
tuki - to hit, to knock, to beat, to pound; crash
tuku - to put off, to leave aside
tupuna - ancestor; grandparent
tūpuna - grandparents (plural form of tupuna; variant of tīpuna)
turi - deaf; knee; disobedient
tūru - chair, seat, stool
ū - breast, udder (n); to be devoted (v)
uaua - difficult (adj); muscle, vein, artery (n)
upoko - head; verse of a song; paragraph; chapter
utu - cost, price; to pay for
wae - foot; leg; separate
waha - load, burden; to carry on the back; mouth
wāhine - women, wives (plural form of wahine)
waho - out, outside, the outside
waiata - to sing (v); song (n)
waiho - to remain, rest; to leave behind
waka - vehicle (land, air and sea)
wehi - terrible (adj); to be afraid (v)
wera - to burn; burnt; hot, heat
whai - to follow, to chase; to have, to acquire
whakatika - to straighten, to correct, to fix
whānau - family; to be born, be born
whanaunga - relative, relation (whānau + nominal suffix -nga - note the short first vowel)
whāngai - to feed, to foster (v); fostered child (n)
whiti - to cross; shine, rise
whiu - to be satisfied; to throw; to be filled
whiwhi - to be in possession of; acquire, obtain, to get