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maitai. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
maitai, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
maitai in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
maitai you have here. The definition of the word
maitai will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition of
maitai, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
Hawaiian
Verb
maitai
- Niʻihau form of maikaʻi (“goodness”)
Usage notes
- In Niihau, diacritics are omitted. If one were to use them, the spelling would be maitaʻi.
Maori
Etymology 1
From Proto-Polynesian *maqitaki; compare with Hawaiian maikaʻi and Tahitian maitaʻi.[1]
Adjective
maitai
- good, beautiful, agreeable
References
- ^ Ross Clark and Simon J. Greenhill, editors (2011), “maitaki”, in POLLEX-Online: The Polynesian Lexicon Project Online
Etymology 2
Compound of mai (“from”) + tai (“sea”), sense of iron from their introduction by trade with European sailors.[1]
Adjective
maitai
- foreign
Noun
maitai
- (esp. Urewera, Bay of Plenty) iron
- Synonym: rino
- metal
- Synonym: mētara
References
- ^ Smith, S. Percy (1900 March) “Wars of the northern against the southern tribes of New Zealand in the nineteenth century”, in Journal of the Polynesian Society, volume IX, number 33, pages 18-91
Further reading
- “maitai” in John C. Moorfield, Te Aka: Maori–English, English–Maori Dictionary and Index, 3rd edition, Longman/Pearson Education New Zealand, 2011, →ISBN.