The Hoahoa Māori glossary helps all people of Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland interpret the urban design guidance on this website.
To see the full ADM glossary for urban design terms, click here.
Papakupu Whāiti Hoahoa Māori Glossary
Aotearoa
(place) New Zealand
Ara paihikara
(noun) cycleway
Arai
(noun) a barrier / screen / defence
(verb) to screen / defend
Ararewa
(noun) elevator / lift
Ātea
(noun) courtyard, public forum
Atua Māori
(noun) Māori ancestor with continuing influence / Māori god
Awa
(noun) river / stream
Awhi rito
(noun) outer-centre leaves that shelter the centre shoot of the flax bush
Hā
(noun) breathe
(verb) breath
Hapū
(noun) sub-tribe
Harakeke
(noun) New Zealand flax, scientific name Phormium tenax
Heke
(noun) internal rafters of meeting house
(verb) to descend
Hoahoa
(noun and verb) design / arrange / plan
Hoe waka
(noun) paddle of canoe
Hora-tiriti
(noun) streetscape
Hui
(noun) a meeting; (verb) to meet
Ingoa
(noun) name
Iwi
(noun) a number of hapū (sub-tribes) related through a common ancestor
Kai
(noun) food, meal; (verb) to eat
Kaikaranga
(noun) female ceremonial caller
Kāinga
(noun) home/ village
Kāinga iti
Minor dwelling
Kaitiaki
(noun) guardian
Kaitiakitanga
(noun) guardianship. The practice of looking after the environment. These practices are rooted in tradition
Kakau
(noun) stalk of a plant
Karā
(noun) basalt rock
Karakia
(noun) a ritual recitation / incantation / prayer often used to open and close meetings;
(verb) to pray
Kaumātua
(noun) elder, either male or female, who has status within the whānau, hapū or iwi
Kaupapa
(noun) topic, subject, issue
Kauta
(noun) kitchen
Kōrari
(noun) flower stem of flax
Kōrero
(noun) dialogue, speech; (verb) to speak
Kotahitanga
(noun) unity, togetherness
Kuhunga waka
(noun) driveway
Kupenga
(noun) net for fishing
Kūtai
(noun) mussel(s)
Mahere rangatira
(noun) master planning
Mahi
(noun) work, job; (verb) to make, do, work
Mahi tahi
(verb) to collaborate, work together
Mahinga kai
(noun) place for gathering or cultivating food
Mana
(noun) prestige, authority, agency
Mana taurite
(noun) equality / equal status
Mana whenua
(noun) Māori who have customary authority over land through ancestral links
See: Tāmaki Makaurau: Ngā Iwi Māori, Considering effects on Mana Whenua values in resource consents
Manaaki
(noun) support; (verb) to support, to take care of, to show respect
Manaakitanga
(noun) the practice of showing respect, generosity and care for others
Manu
(noun) bird(s)
Manuhiri
(noun) guest(s), visitor(s)
Māra kai
(noun) food garden
Marae
(noun) courtyard - open area in front of the wharenui; often used for the complex of buildings around the marae
Marama
(noun) moon, month
Maramataka māori
(noun) Māori lunar calendar
Mataawaka
(noun) Māori who live in Auckland and are not in a mana whenua group
Matariki
(personal noun) Pleiades. Matariki signals the Māori New Year. It is a time of renewal and celebration in Aotearoa, New Zealand that begins with the rising of the Matariki star cluster.
Mātauranga māori
(noun) Māori knowledge. Refers to all things physical, emotional and spiritual in a Māori context
Maunga
(noun) mountain
Mauri
(noun) lifeforce, vital essence
Mihi
(noun) speech of greeting, acknowledgement;
(verb) to greet, to thank
Moana
(noun) sea(s), ocean(s)
Moemoeā
(noun and verb) dream / vision
Moenga
(noun) bed
Mokopuna
(noun) grandchild, grandchildren descendant
Mokowā tūmatanui
(noun) public space
Mokowā wātea
(noun) open space
Momo
(noun) type/ typology
Motu
(noun) island, country, nation
Ngā mahi oneone / whenua
(noun) earthworks / land disturbance
Ngahere
(noun) forest(s)
Noa
(verb) to be free from tapu (sacredness) / unrestricted
Oranga
(noun) wellbeing / health
Pā
(noun) fortified village
Paekiritata
(noun) neighbourhood
Pākehā
(noun) a New Zealander of European descent
Papa tākaro
(noun) playground
Papakāinga
(noun) communal housing or a settlement on communal Māori land
Papakāinga tāoki
(noun) retirement villages
Papatūānuku
(personal noun) Earth Mother
Pare
(noun) carved feature above a doorway
Pātai
(noun) question, enquiry; (verb) to ask or question
Pou
(noun) post / pillar
Pou whenua
(noun) carved post marking land ownership or a boundary, or place of significance
Pōwhiri/ pōhiri
(noun) welcome ceremony;
(verb) to welcome
Pūrākau
(noun) story, ancient legend
Rākau
(noun) tree, timber
Rākau rangatira
(noun) chiefly tree
Rangahau Take
(noun) case study(ies)
Rangatahi
(noun) youth, young adults
Rangatira
(noun) leader, chief, someone of high rank
Rangatiratanga
(noun) leadership / chieftainship
Ranginui
Sky Father
Raranga
(noun) weaving
(verb) to weave
Ringatoi
(noun) artist
Rito
(noun) young centre leaf of flax bush
Rohe
(noun) region, district, area
Rongoā
(noun) medicine, medicinal plant
Rōpū
(noun) group, team, organisation
Rūma horoi / rūma kaukau
(noun) bathroom
Rūma horoi kākahu
(noun) laundry
Rūma moe
(noun) bedroom
Rūma mokopuna
(noun) nursery/ playroom
Rūma noho
(noun) living room
Taiao
(noun) environment, natural world
Takiwā
(noun) region (of a place)
Tāmaki makaurau
(place) Auckland
Tamariki
(noun) children (plural form of tamaiti, meaning child)
Tāne
(noun) man, male
Tāngata whenua
(noun) indigenous people - people born of the whenua
Tangata/ tāngata
(noun) person/ people
Tangihanga
(noun) funeral
Taniwha
(noun) a non-human entity / guardian with supernatural qualities, which can cause harm
Taonga
(noun) a treasured item, tangible (e.g. land) or intangible (e.g. Māori language)
Tapu
(noun) having restrictions / sacredness / prohibitions on something or someone
Tari
(noun) office
Tauihu
(noun) canoe prow or bow
Tauira
(noun) student, example, illustration
Tauiwi
(noun) foreigner, non-Māori
Taura here
(noun) binding ropes / urban kinship group / migrants / kinship link. Taura here groups retain ties with tribal homelands outside the region
Taurapa waka
(noun) canoe stern
Te Ao Māori
the Māori World
Te whakarohe
(noun) zoning
Teina
(noun) younger sibling of same gender e.g. younger brothers (of a male), younger sisters (of a female), or cousins (of the same gender) of a junior line, junior relative
Tikanga
(noun) practices, protocols, customs
Tipuna/tupuna, tīpuna/tūpuna
(noun) ancestor, ancestors
Tirohanga
(noun) view / sight / perspective
Tohu
(noun) symbol, sign, landmark
Tohunga
(noun) expert / specialist
Toi
(noun) summit, origin, art, knowledge
Toka
(noun) rock, boulder, large stone
Tuakana
(noun) older sibling of the same gender e.g. elder brothers (of a male), elder sisters (of a female), cousins (of the same gender)
Tukutuku
(noun) ornamental lattice-work, usually on panels
Urupā
(noun) resting place of the deceased / burial site / cemetery
Wae-hīkoi
Pedestrian
Waharoa
(noun) entry threshold of marae, gateway, main entranceway.
Wāhi tapu
[also spelled: waahi tapu] (noun) sacred site / burial ground. Usually a site of significance to iwi, hapū or whānau
Wahine / wāhine
(noun) woman/ women, female
Wai
(noun) Water, liquid, juice; stream, creek, river; tears
Waiata
(noun) song; (verb) to sing
Wairua
(noun) spirit
Wairuangatanga
(noun) spirituality
Waka
(noun) canoe, vehicle
Wānanga
(noun) seminar, forum;
(verb) to discuss
Whakaaro
(noun) thought, opinion;
(verb) to think
Whakairo
(noun) carving
(verb) to carve
Whakapapa
(noun) genealogy (verb) to make ancestral links
Whakataukī
(noun) proverb
Whakawhanaketanga ahumahi
(noun) industrial development
Whakawhanaketanga arumoni
(noun) commercial development
Whānau
(noun) family, extended family, the smallest Māori social unit
Whanaungatanga
(noun) relationship/ connection
Whānui
(adjective) to be broad, wide, extensive
Whare whakakapi mokowā
(noun) infill housing
Wharekai
(noun) dining house
Wharenui
(noun) meeting house, main building of a marae
Wharepaku
(noun) toilet
Whenua
(noun) land, country, nation, ground
Whetū
(noun) star(s)