Aotearoa

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Maori Aotearoa (“long white cloud; North Island; New Zealand”), see there for more.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌɑːəʊtiːəˈɹəʊ.ə/
• IPA^(key): /ˌɑ.oʊtiəˈɹoʊ.ə/
• IPA^(key): /ˈæoteəɹɐʉ.ɘ/, /-tiə-/

• Aotearoa (New Zealand):

  (file)

Proper noun

Aotearoa

2. (chiefly New Zealand, obsolete) The North Island of New Zealand.

   Synonym: North Island

   • 1855, Sir George Grey, Polynesian mythology and ancient traditional history of the New Zealand race: as furnished by their priests and chiefs‎^[1]:

     he found in the sea this island Aotearoa (the northern island of New Zealand), and he thought he would land there.

4. (chiefly New Zealand) New Zealand.

   Synonyms: Aotearoa New Zealand, New Zealand

   • 1981, Split Enz (lyrics and music), “Six Months in a Leaky Boat”:

     Aotearoa / rugged individual / glistens like a pearl at the bottom of the world [...].

   • 2009, Diarmaid MacCulloch, A History of Christianity, Penguin, page 877:

     The Maori in Aotearoa (the pair of major islands which Europeans have known as New Zealand) were part of the same oceanic culture.

Derived terms

• • Aotearoan

   

See also

• Kiwi

References

• H. W. Orsman, editor (1997), The Dictionary of New Zealand English: A Dictionary of New Zealandisms on Historical Principles, Auckland: Oxford University Press
• M. King (2004) The Penguin History of New Zealand, Auckland: Penguin Books

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Hawaiian

Etymology

Borrowed from Maori Aotearoa in the 20th century.

Proper noun

1. New Zealand

   Synonym: Nukilani

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Maori

Etymology

Possibly from ao (“cloud, daytime, world”) +‎ tea (“white”) +‎ roa (“long, tall”); often translated as “the land of the long white cloud”. Assuming this is probably a reference to the appearance of mountainous land when seen on the horizon from a canoe after an ocean voyage. Originally was in reference to the North Island only. The first recorded mention of Aotearoa as a name for New Zealand as a whole was in 1898 in The Long White Cloud Ao-tea-roa by William Pember Reeves.

The original name known by the indigenous Polynesian population was Te Ika Nui A Maui or Te Ika-a-Māui (“The great fish of Maui”); from te (“the”) +‎ ika (“fish”) +‎ nui (“big, great, large”) +‎ a (“of”) +‎ Māui (a Polynesian demigod).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /aɔˈtearɔa/

Proper noun

Aotearoa

1. (obsolete) North Island (of New Zealand)
2. New Zealand

Derived terms

• Aotearoa Tuatahi
• Ara Poutama Aotearoa
• Ararau Aotearoa
• Kaunihera Māori o Aotearoa
• Mana Arotake Aotearoa
• Mana Rapuara Aotearoa
• Paerewa Aotearoa
• Pāremata Aotearoa
• Penihana Aotearoa
• Pirihimana o Aotearoa
• Poirewa Aotearoa
• Rōpū Aotearoa Tuatahi
• Rōpū Ture o Aotearoa
• Tatauranga Aotearoa
• Toi Aotearoa
• Toi Māori Aotearoa
• Uruwhenua o Aotearoa
• Waka Rererangi Aotearoa
• Wānanga o Aotearoa

 

References

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

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Portuguese

Proper noun

Aotearoa f

1. Aotearoa (Maori name of New Zealand)

   Synonym: Nova Zelândia