V

foot, leg; te va'e mata'u, te va'e maúi, right foot, left foot.

quick and light, without detour (lit.: foot up, foot down). Ka-oho koe ki a nua era va'e ruga va'e raro, ina ekó hipa-hipa, hurry straight to your mother, do not make any detours.

va'e pau

misshapen foot, clubfoot.

vaega

middle, centre; i vaega o, in the middle of.

vaero

chicken's long tail feather; lobster's antenna (vaero ura).

vaha

hollow; opening; space between the fingers (vaha rima); door cracks (vaha papare).

vahavaha

to fight, to wrangle, to argue with abusive words.

vahi

to separate, to part; ka-vahi, separate them; ku-vahi-ra-á, the separation has been done. O te Atua i-vahi-ai i te vai, i te henua, God separated the water from the earth.
to pass (of the beginning of a season); ku vahi-á te toga, ku vahi-á te hora, winter is past its beginning, summer is past its beginning.

vai

water, liquid, juice;

vai tagata, semen, sperm (also: takatea);
vai kava, saltwater, sea, ocean.

vaiapuga

to be unsuccessful (when asking for a girl in marriage). I-vaiapuga-nó au, kai rava'a-mai te rega mo te poki, I was unsuccessful, I did not get the girl for my son. E-vaiapuga-nó tooku ara, i-oho-atu-ai hai kona uha, ina kai rava'a. My trip was useless, going to the girl's place, I didn't get her.

vaiarega

celebration where men and women keep apart. Te me'e he koro vaiarega: e-tahi hiritoke o te hare mo te tagata, e-tahi hiritoke mo te ga vi'e, mo katikati i te ate-atua, i te rîu, ate rivariva. The festivals called vaiarega are this: one side in front of the house (built for the purpose of the feast) is for the men, the other is for the women, to practice ate-atua or rîu songs, which are serious, not frivolous, songs.

vaihí

a tasty species of taro.

vaiora

generous, munificent person; he vaiora tou tagata era, that man is a generous person.

vairua

good fortune, good luck. o te vairua i rava'a-mai-ai-i tooku kahu, by a piece of good fortune I got myself some clothes.
misfortune, bad luck; he uga koe e te maga i te vairua-á, you have been unlucky; o piría te vairua, so that no misfortune may happen to you. (Both expressions are ancient and almost unknown today).

vaka

canoe, small boat; vaka ama, outrigger canoe.

vaka-ivi

graves under ahu which hold skeletons (lit. "bone canoe").

vaka-ure

to lay foundation stones in the outline of a canoe (e.g. for hare paenga); nowadays used in the more general sense, without reference to a special shape of outline.

vakovako

rectangular; rectangle.

vana

a sea-urchin, larger than the hatuke and with shorter, thinner spines.

vanavana

radiate, said of any object with its parts radiating horizontally from a central axis, such as the feather hats on Thomson's Plate 54 [opens new window].

ha'u vanavana belt adorned with multicolour feathers radiating out horizontally, used on occasion of important festivals.
Compare with:
ha'u tara, ha'u teketeke the feathers of which stick out vertically.

vánaga

to speak, to talk, to pronounce; conversation, talk, word, language; he vânaga i te vânaga rapanui, to speak Rapanui; vânaga reoreo, lies, lying words, falsehoods.

vanavanaga

to talk at length; useless talk.

varavara

to sow, to plant (seedlings) leaving adequete growing space between them.

vare

spittle, drivel, any viscous liquid; viscous; vare mâmari, egg white; pipi-vare, slug.

varegao

to have one's mouth water, to feel a consuming desire for, to crave (ki); ku varegao-á au ki te koreha, I have this sudden craving for eels;
to crave, to desire, in a general sense: he-varegao ki te mee rakerake, to have evil desires, cravings.

vari

menstruation, period (also: tiko).
to tack, to veer (nautical); ku-vari-mai-á te miro, the boat arrives, have veered [around Rano Kau].

varu

to cut one's hair (te puoko);
to shave.
to paint, to put on make-up: he varu te kiea.

varua

spirit, soul; sleep, dream. This is a Tahitian word, but the same term may have been used in ancient times.

varu a-roto

to have diarrhoea.

vatavata

merry, happy; kope vatavata, poki vatavata, merry youngster, merry child, of smiling, pleasant temperament.

vavae

to separate, to part, to be divided into groups; ku-vavae-á te tagata, the men are divided into several teams (see vae).

vave

coastal wave (waves in the open sea are called pari).
not yet (used in the imperative, following the verb); ina koe ekó oho-vave, ka-tiaki-no mai, don't go yet, wait for me.

vavovavo

echo; to echo.

vehi

song in someone's honour; ka-hoa-mai te vehi o te repa. sing us a song in our friend's honour.
to form a circle, to sit in a circle;
- ku-vehi-á te ga kope, the youngsters are seated in a circle;
- ku-vehi-á te gogoro, the assistance is seated in a circle;
- ku-vehi-á te mahigo i tau raá tomo era te Matu'a the people formed a large circle on the day the Padre arrived;

vekeveke

eyelash.

vekuveku

wet (said of birds wet from the rain).
disshevelled: ku-vekuveku-á te oho (oho, hair).
messy, full of garbage (of houses); ku-vekuveku-á te hare, the house is a mess.

veo

nail; to nail.

vera

heat, hot, to feel hot; veravera, to burn, to be consumed. The following two terms are of obscure meaning: vera pipiro was said of person who did use face powder and vera hati was said of those did.

vera-paka

scar; to heal (of scars).

vere

to cut (plants).
hair, beard;
- vere gutu, moustache;
- vere kukumu, whiskers, mutton-chops;
- vere kauva'e, beard;
- vere ha'iga (or haíga), armpit hair;
- vere puku, pubic hair.

verepaka

moa gao verapaka, chicken with featherless neck .

verevere

down, fine hairs; moa va'e verevere, chicken with feathers on its feet.

verehiva

drizzle (also: ehu ûa).

veretaûeve

servant, employee.

veri

fly eggs.
pretty; he-veri-nó te kope era, this youth is really pretty; ko te veri te vî'e, how pretty this woman is!

veri arahu

scorpion.

veri-gao

a sort of scarf made of human hair.

veriveri

puddle, small pond; to get wet going through puddles; veri-veri-á te va'e, I got my feet wet.

vero

to throw, to hurl (a lance, a spear). This word was also used with the particle kua preposed: koía kua vera i te matá, he is the one who threw the obsidian [weapon].

verovero

to throw, to hurl repeatedly, quickly (iterative of vero) .

veta

a seaweed.

veti

neighbour; also seems to mean a stranger who has come to settle, an immigrant.

veu

root of certain plants: veu kumara, veu uhi.

veu te va'e

to run; ka-veu te va'e ruga, va'e raro, run as fast as you can.

veveke

dragonfly.
to arrive early; e-veveke koe; do come early. E-haaki koe i te gagata tupa o te rago mo veveke mai! Tell the stretcher-bearers to come early at dawn!

vevete

to untie, to release.

veveveve

to be in a hurry, to hurry; he-veveveve au mo oho ki te aga, I am in a hurry to get to work.

vî'e

woman, female; matû'a vî'e, mother.

Vî'e hoa

ancient name of a spirit of the other world..

vihaviha

uninhabited, deserted, abandoned.

viri

to wind, to coil, to roll up; he viri i te hau, to wind, coil a string (to fasten something).
to fall from a height, rolling over, to hurl down, to fling down.

viriviri

round, spherical (said of small objects).

viviri te henua

to feel dizzy (also: mimiro te henua ).

viví

partridge (modern onomatopoeia).

vo'u

to raise shouts (te karaga); vo'u vo'u, to raise continual shouts or groans.

vovo

girl, daughter (term of endearment used by parents to their daughters, brothers to their sisters, or more generally to any female).

vuhi

water puddle; to get dirty; ku-vuhi-á (ku-vuhivuhi-á) te kahu, I got my clothes dirty.