kanohi

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Maori

Etymology

Related to Tongan kanoʻi mata (eyeball) ultimately from Proto-Oceanic *kanoŋ qi mata corresponding to kano i mata (“seed on eye”)[1][2] – compare with Malay biji mata (“eyeball”, lit. “seed of the eye”) for similar semantic connections. Sense of face broadened from sense of sight itself from original sense of eye.

Noun

kanohi

  1. face
  2. view, sight, vision
    Synonyms: kite, kitenga
  3. (archaic) eye, eyeball
    Synonym: mata

References

  1. ^ Tregear, Edward (1891) Maori-Polynesian Comparative Dictionary, Wellington, New Zealand: Lyon and Blair, page 123
  2. ^ Ross, Malcolm D., Pawley, Andrew, Osmond, Meredith (2016) The lexicon of Proto-Oceanic, volumes 5: People, body and mind, Canberra: Australian National University, →ISBN, page 121

Further reading

  • kanohi” in John C. Moorfield, Te Aka: Maori–English, English–Maori Dictionary and Index, 3rd edition, Longman/Pearson Education New Zealand, 2011, →ISBN.