100 words in te reo Māori
These words are grouped according to the following functions and associations:
We have included individual sound files of spoken versions of all these words – just click on the word and it will be spoken! (See also pronunciation notes and te reo for email.) New: 365 more useful Māori words and phrases
Hear the late Tairongo Amoamo read the complete list: click on arrow to play or download as mp3 (493kb)
The marae
- Hui meeting, conference, gathering
- Marae the area for formal discourse in front of a meeting house; or the whole marae complex, including meeting house, dining hall, forecourt, etc.
- Haere mai! Welcome! Enter!
- Nau mai! Welcome!
- Tangihanga funeral ceremony in which a body is mourned on a marae
- Tangi short (verbal version) for the above; or to cry, to mourn
- Karanga the ceremony of calling to the guests to welcome them onto the marae
- Manuhiri guests, visitors
- Tangata whenua original people belonging to a place, local people, hosts
- Whaikōrero the art and practice of speech making
- Kaikōrero or kaiwhai kōrero speaker (there are many other terms)
- Haka chant with dance for the purpose of challenge (see other references to haka on this site)
- Waiata song or chant which follows a speech
- Koha gift, present (usually money, can be food or precious items, given by guest to hosts)
- Whare nui meeting house; sometimes run together as one word – wharenui
- Whare whakairo carved meeting house
- Whare kai dining hall
- Whare paku lavatory, toilet
- Whare horoi ablution block, bathroom
Concepts
- Aroha compassion, tenderness, sustaining love
- Ihi power, authority, essential force
- Mana authority, power; secondary meaning: reputation, influence
- Manaakitanga respect for hosts or kindness to guests, to entertain, to look after
- Mauri hidden essential life force or a symbol of this
- Noa safe from tapu (see below), non-sacred, not tabooed
- Raupatu confiscate, take by force
- Rohe boundary, a territory (either geographical or spiritual) of an iwi or hapū
- Taihoa to delay, to wait, to hold off to allow maturation of plans, etc.
- Tapu sacred, not to be touched, to be avoided because sacred, taboo
- Tiaki to care for, look after, guard (kaitiaki: guardian, trustee)
- Taonga treasured possession or cultural item, anything precious
- Tino rangatiratanga the highest possible independent chiefly authority, paramount authority, sometimes used for sovereignty
- Tūrangawaewae a place to stand, a place to belong to, a seat or location of identity
- Wehi to be held in awe
- Whakapapa genealogy, to recite genealogy, to establish kin connections
- Whenua land, homeland, country (also afterbirth, placenta)
People and their groups
- Ariki male or female of high inherited rank from senior line of descent
- Hapū clan, tribe, independent section of a people (modern usage – sub-tribe); pregnant
- Iwi people, nation (modern usage – tribe); bones
- Kaumātua elder or elders, senior people in a kin group
- Ngāi Tātou a term for everyone present – ‘we all’
- Pākehā this word is not an insult; its derivation is obscure; it is the Māori word for people living in New Zealand of British/European origin; originally it would not have included, for example, Dalmatians, Italians, Greeks, Indians, Chinese
- Rangatira person of chiefly rank, boss, owner
- Tama son, young man, youth
- Tamāhine daughter
- Tamaiti one child
- Tamariki children
- Tāne man/men, husband(s)
- Teina/taina junior relative, younger brother of a brother, younger sister of a sister
- Tipuna/tupuna ancestor
- Tuahine sister of a man
- Tuakana senior relative, older brother of a brother, older sister of a sister
- Tungāne brother of a sister
- Wahine woman, wife (wāhine: women, wives)
- Waka canoe, canoe group (all the iwi and hapū descended from the crew of a founding waka)
- Whāngai fostered or adopted child, young person
- Whānau extended or non-nuclear family; to be born
- Whanaunga kin, relatives
Components of place names
Terms for geographical features, such as hills, rivers, cliffs, streams, mountains, the coast; and adjectives describing them, such as small, big, little and long, are found in many place names. Here is a list so you can recognise them:
- Au current
- Awa river
- Iti small, little
- Kai in a place name, this signifies a place where a particular food source was plentiful, e.g., Kaikōura, the place where crayfish (kōura) abounded and were eaten
- Manga stream
- Mānia plain
- Maunga mountain
- Moana sea, or large inland ‘sea’, e.g., Taupō
- Motu island
- Nui large, big
- Ō or o means ‘of’ (so does a, ā); many names begin with Ō, meaning the place of so-and-so, e.g., Ōkahukura, Ōkiwi, Ōhau
- One sand, earth
- Pae ridge, range
- Papa flat
- Poto short
- Puke hill
- Roa long
- Roto lake; inside
- Tai coast, tide
- Wai water
- Whanga harbour, bay
Greetings
- E noho rā Goodbye (from a person leaving)
- Haere rā Goodbye (from a person staying)
- Haere mai Welcome! Come!
- Hei konā rā Goodbye (less formal)
- Kia ora Hi! G’day! (general informal greeting)
- Mōrena (Good) morning!
- Nau mai Welcome! Come!
- Tēnā koe formal greeting to one person
- Tēnā kōrua formal greeting to two people
- Tēnā koutou formal greeting to many people
- Tēnā tātou katoa formal inclusive greeting to everybody present, including oneself
Body parts
- Arero tongue
- Ihu nose
- Kakī neck
- Kauae chin (also kauwae)
- Kōpū womb
- Māhunga (also makawe) hair (always plural, indicated by ngā [the, plural]); also head
- Manawa heart
- Niho teeth
- Pohochest (also uma)
- Puku belly, stomach
- Raho testicles
- Ringa hand, arm
- Tenetene (also tara) vagina
- Toto blood
- Tou anus
- Turi knee (also pona)
- Tūtae excrement, ordure
- ū breast (breast-milk is wai-ū)
- Upoko head
- Ure penis
- Waewae foot/feet, leg/legs
See also: 365 useful Māori words and phrases
A note on pronunciation
The following English equivalents are a rough guide to pronouncing vowels in Māori:
- a as in far
- e as in desk and the first ‘e’ in where; it should be short and sharp
- i as in fee, me, see
- o as in awe (not ‘oh!’)
- u as in sue, boot
There are fewer consonants, and only a few are different from English:
- r should not be rolled. It is pronounced quite close to the sound of ‘l’ in English, with the tongue near the front of the mouth.
- t is pronounced more like ‘d’ than ‘t’, with the tip of the tongue slightly further back from the teeth
- wh counts as a consonant; the standard modern pronunciation is close to the ‘f’ sound. In some districts it is more like an ‘h’; in others more like a ‘w’ without the ‘h’; in others again more like the old aspirated English pronunciation of ‘wh’ (‘huence’ for whence)
- ng counts as a consonant and is pronounced like the ‘ng’ in ‘singer’. It is not pronounced like the ‘ng’ in ‘finger’, i.e., Whāngārei is pronounced Far-n(g)ah-ray (not Fong-gah-ray); Tauranga is pronounced Tow- (to rhyme with sew) rah-n(g)ah (not Tow-rang-gah).
The macron – a little line above some vowels – indicates vowel length. Some words spelled the same have different meanings according to their vowel length. For example, anā means ‘here is’ or ‘behold’: Anā te tangata! (Here is the man!) Ana, with no macron, means a cave. Some writers of modern Māori double the vowel instead of using macrons when indicating a long vowel; the first example would be Anaa te tangata!
Using te reo in email (and snail mail)
This is a guide to appropriate email greetings and sign-offs in te reo Māori.
We encourage you to add other phrases you have received – or any questions you have – as community contributions below this post; or email us at [email protected].
Generic greetings suitable for most occasions
- Formal for one person (where in English you might use ‘Dear’): Tēnā koe
- Informal: Kia ora
When addressing two people
- Formal: Tēnā kōrua
- Informal: Kia ora kōrua
When addressing more than two people
- Formal: Tēnā koutou
- Informal: Kia ora koutou
Generic sign-offs suitable for most occasions
Formal:
- Nāku (noa), nā [your name] = yours sincerely [your name] from one person
- Nā māua (noa), nā [your names] = yours sincerely [your names] - from two people
- Nā mātou (noa), nā [your names or group name] = yours sincerely [your names or group name] - from more than two people
Adding ‘noa’ in the above examples adds a sense of humility - e.g. ‘Nāku, nā’ is ‘From [your name]’, whereas ‘Nāku noa, nā’ is more like ‘It’s just [your name]’
Informal:
- Hei konā mai (or just Hei konā)
Other greetings and sign-offs
Please provide more examples from emails you have received as community contributions at the bottom of this page; or email us at [email protected]
- In the morning, an informal greeting could be: Mōrena (good morning - an alternative is ‘Ata mārie’ )
- Kia ora e hoa (informal greeting to a friend)
- If someone greets you with: Tēnā koutou e hoa mā
An appropriate response would be: Tēnā koe, e hoa (or, less formally, Kia ora e hoa). - The sign off: Noho ora mai rā, nā … is: Look after yourself, from …
For Christmas:
- Meri Kirihimete - Merry Christmas
- Ngā mihi o te Kirihimete me te Tau Hou - Season’s greetings for Christmas and the New Year
- Meri Kirihimete ki a koe/kōrua/koutou - Merry Christmas to you (1 person) / you (2 people) / you (3 or more people)
- Ngā mihi o te Kirihimete ki a koe/kōrua/koutou - Greetings of the Christmas season to you (1 person) / you (2 people) / you (3 or more people).
Community contributions