Māui

See also: maui and Maui

Hawaiian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmaːui/

Proper noun

Māui

1. (Hawaiian mythology) A trickster god who pushed up the sky and fished up the Hawaiian islands.
2. (astronomy) A star near the Pleiades.
3. a male given name from Hawaiian, sometimes also given to women

References

• Mary Kawena Pukui - Samuel Elbert, Hawaiian Dictionary, University of Hawaii Press 1986
• Hawaii State Archives: Marriage records Maui (in the old orthography) occurs in 19th-century marriage records as the only name of 5 women and 19 men.

Maori

Etymology

Possibly related to mauī (“left side”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /maː.u.i/, [mɑː.ʉ.i]

Proper noun

Māui

1. (mythology) A trickster and a hero who had his superhuman strength and shapeshifting, believed to have created the islands of New Zealand from a great fish that he caught.

Derived terms

• Te Ika-a-Māui (“the fish of Maui, North Island”)
• Te Ika-nui-a-Māui (“the great fish of Maui, North Island”)
• Te Waka-a-Māui (“the canoe of Maui, South Island”)
• Te Pāpaka-a-Māui (“the paddle crab of Maui, Australia”)
• Te Riu-a-Māui (“the hills and valleys of Maui, Zealandia (submerged former continent that New Zealand was part of)”)