List of English words of Māori origin


The following Māori words exist as loanwords in English. Many of them concern endemic New Zealand flora and fauna that were known prior to the arrival of Europeans in New Zealand. Other terms relate to Māori customs. All of these words are commonly encountered in New Zealand English, and several are widely used across other varieties of English, and in other languages.
The Māori alphabet includes both long and short vowels, which change the meaning of words. For most of the 20th century, these were not indicated by spelling, except sometimes as double vowels. Since the 1980s, the standard way to indicate long vowels is with a macron. Since about 2015, macrons have rapidly become standard usage for Māori loanwords in New Zealand English in media, law, government, and education. Recently some Anglicised words have been replaced with spellings that better reflect the original Māori word.

Flora and fauna

The accepted English common names of a number of species of animal and plant endemic to New Zealand are simply their Māori names or a close equivalent:
; huhu : a type of large beetle
; huia : a recently extinct bird, much prized traditionally by Māori for its feathers
; kākā : a native parrot
; kākāpō : a rare native bird
; kahikatea : a type of large tree
;katipō : a venomous native spider
; kauri : large conifer in the Araucariaceae
; kea : a parrot, the world's only alpine parrot
; kererū : the native wood pigeon
; kina : the sea-urchin, eaten as a delicacy
; kiwi : the bird, a New Zealander, or kiwi fruit
; kōkako : a rare type of bird
; kōwhai : a type of flowering tree
; kūmara : sweet potato
; mako : a shark, considered a magnificent fighting game fish
; mamaku : a type of large tree fern
; moa : extinct giant flightless bird
; pāua : abalone
; pōhutukawa : a type of flowering tree
; ponga : the silver fern, often used as a symbol for New Zealand
; pūkeko : a wading bird, the purple swamphen
; rātā : a type of flowering tree
; rimu : a tree, the red pine
; takahē : a rare wading bird
; toheroa : a shellfish
; tōtara : an evergreen tree
; tuatara : rare lizard-like reptile, not closely related to any other living species
; tūī : the parsonbird
; weka : a flightless bird of the rail family
; wētā : a large native insect, similar to a cricket
; whekī : a type of tree fern

Placenames

Thousands of Māori placenames are now official in New Zealand. These include:
Many New Zealand rivers and lakes have Māori names; these names predominantly use the prefixes wai- and roto- respectively. Examples include the Waikato, Waipa and Waimakariri rivers, and lakes Rotorua, Rotomahana and Rotoiti.
Some Treaty of Waitangi settlements have included placename changes.
A Māori name for New Zealand, Aotearoa, has gained some currency as a more acceptable alternative. It appears in the names of some political parties, e.g. Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand and Communist Party of Aotearoa.

Other words and phrases

; aroha : love, sympathy, compassion
; arohanui : "lots of love", commonly as a valediction
; haere mai and haere ra: welcome and goodbye
; haka : traditional Māori dance, not always a war dance, often performed by New Zealand sports teams to 'intimidate' opponents; see Haka of the All Blacks
; hāngi : earth oven used to cook large quantities of food the food cooked in the hāngi
; hapū: clan or subtribe, part of an iwi
; hikoi : march or walk, especially a symbolic walk such as a protest march
; hongi : traditional Māori greeting featuring the pressing together of noses and sharing of breath
; hui : meeting, conference
; iwi : tribe
; kai : food
; kai moana : sea food
; kapa haka : a cultural festival or music and dance
; ka pai : very pleasant, good, fine
; karakia : sung prayer or welcome
; kaupapa : policy or principle, credo, methodology or theoretical foundation
; kāwanatanga : transliteration of the English word "governance," sometimes mistranslated as "sovereignty." See also: tino rangatiratanga and Differences in the Māori and English versions of the Treaty of Waitangi
; kia kaha : an expression of support, lit. be strong
; kia ora : a greeting, lit. be healthy
; koha : gift, present, offering, donation, contribution
; kōhanga reo : Māori language preschool
; kōrero : to talk; to speak Māori; story
; koru : stylised fern frond pattern, used in art
; Kura Kaupapa Māori: Maori language school
; mahinga mātaitai : traditional seafood gathering place
; mana : regard in which someone is held; respect of their authority; reputation
; manaia : guardian spirit, often found in Māori artwork and carving
; Māoritanga: Māori culture, traditions, and way of life, lit. Māoriness
; marae : meeting house, the communal or sacred place that serves religious and social purposes in Māori society
; Matariki : midwinter festival, the Māori new year, lit. the star cluster of the Pleiades
; mihi : lit. greet, acknowledge; sometimes used for internet board or forum message
; moko : facial tattoo
; mokopuna : descendants, young children. Lit. grandchildren
; Ngaire : woman's name, origin unknown
; pā : hill fort
; pakarū: broken, not working; often rendered in New Zealand English as puckeroo or puckerooed
; Pākehā : New Zealander of non-Māori descent, usually European
; Papakāinga : land used as housing by a hapu or whanau group
; poi: A dance art that originated in Māori culture and is now popular in object-manipulation communities
; pounamu : greenstone, jade, nephrite
; pōwhiri : ceremony of welcome
; puku : abdomen, tummy
; rāhui : a ban or prohibition
; rohe : homeland, tribal area
; tangata whenua : lit. "people of the land". The home tribe of a given marae or district; locals; by extension, Māori in the New Zealand context.
; taniwha:mythical water monster
; taonga : treasure, especially cultural treasures. Māori usage: property, goods, possessions, effects, treasure, something prized. The term whare taonga is used in the Māori names of museums
; tapu : sacred, taboo; to be avoided because of this;
; te reo : the Māori language
; tiki : stylised representation of a male human, found in Māori artwork and carving
; tino rangatiratanga : a political term, sometimes translated as "chieftainship," but most accurately rendered as " sovereign authority", a right promised to Māori in the Treaty of Waitangi
; tukutuku : traditional woven panels
; utu : revenge. Māori usage: revenge, cost, price, wage, fee, payment, salary, reciprocity
; wāhi tapu : sacred site
; wai : water
; waiata : singing, song
; waka : canoe
; whakapapa: genealogy, ancestry, heritage
; whānau: extended family or community of related families
; whare : house, building

Word list

Many Māori words or phrases that describe Māori culture have become part of New Zealand English and may be used in general contexts. Some of these are:
Other Māori words and phrases may be recognised by most New Zealanders, but generally not used in everyday speech: