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a e g h haka i k m n o p r t u v
- mea,
- tonsil, gill (of fish).
- red (probably because it is the colour of gills); light red, rose; also meamea.
- to grow or to exist in abundance in a place or around a place: ku-mea-á te ma ka, bananas grow in abundance (in this place); ku-mea-á te ka, there is plenty of fish (in a stretch of the coast or the sea); ku-mea-á te tai, the tide is low and the sea completely calm (good for fishing); mau mea, abundance.
- me'e,
- something; thing; a being; me'e hanohano, disgusting thing; me'e gutu, a being with a beak; me'e kai magó koe? do you eat magó (dogfish)?
- this, that; the one that, etc.: te ga me'e era, those ones (over there); koai te me'e i-o'o-ai kiroto ki te hare? who is it who entered the house?
- to do something, to do in this manner: ina ekó me'e, don't do this, don't do like this.
- mei, to wither (of plants).
- meme, mémeméme, to grow poorly (of plants), to be retarded in its growth; to fail (of a business, a contract, a piece of work).
- memere, (also meremere) to leave things in good order, matched or aligned: he-vevete-mai te kupega, he-hakaúru ki te vai memere. he removes the net (which was secured) and drops it into the water leaving it well spread out. ka-memere-mai te huruhuru moa mo te hei (mo te ha'u vaero, mo te maroke) leave me the hens' feathers arranged in proper order [by colour, by size] (for the hei garland, the vaero hat, and the maroke).
- meneheke, menehune, these two words, almost completely unknown today, seem to have been used to shout at someone not to go somewhere or to take something, but to wait first: kokoe he menehe ke, kokoe he menehune , or just: meneheke. Menehue also seems to mean "to arrive late". The meaning of these archaic terms is far from clear, but they also seem to refer to socially inferior persons.
- migo, an eel, see also koreha puhi, haoko, tapatea.
- migoigoi,
- to swarm, to teem, to pullulate; mainly said of poultry: he-migoigoi te moa i mu'a i te hare, there are lots and lots of chickens in front of the house.
- Commonly used in conjunction with hiri and toka for emphasis: e tamahine a Kaka e, ka-hiri, ka-toka, ka-migoigoi! O, chickens of Kaka, (a man who had much poultry), grow and multiply in great numbers! ; he-hiri, he-toka, he-migoigoi te mana'u, to worry about or yearn for something or someone with burning desire; he-hiri, he-toka, he-migogioi tooku mana'u ki te matu'a, I think of my mother without respite; he-hiri, he-toka, he-migoigoi te mana'u ki te ka, I am dying for some fish (to eat).
- migomigo,
- wrinkle, crease; wrinkled, creased: ariga migomigo, wrinkled face.
- damaged, spoilt, bad-tasting (of vegetables), e.g. kumara migomigo.
- mihaore, fortunate, happy, lucky; ekó mihaore koe , ana moe ki te kenu ga poki rikiriki, you will not be happy if you marry a man who is still like a small child.
- mihimihi, drizzle.
- mimí, urine; to urinate.
- mimiro, to move around something in circles; he-mimiro te henua , to feel dizzy as if the ground under you was moving in circles.
- minemine, to blink.
- mini, to dodge back (to avoid being attacked); to withdraw quickly; also minimini.
- miramira, mess of things.
- miritonu, a family of seaweeds, with eight members: miritonu meamea, miritonu karu viviri, miritonu karu tiare, miritonu parapara-raha uri, miritonu parapara-raha mea, miritonu harepepe meamea, miritonu harepepe uri-uri, miritonu reherehe. See also: aúke , karakama, kiroké, magamaga, pa'a, parai, takapú, verevere.
- miro,
- wood, stick; also (probably improperly) used for "tree": miro tahiti, a tree from Tahiti (Melia azedarach); miro huru iti, shrub.
- wooden vessel (canoe, boat); today pahú (a Tahitian word) in more used, especially when speaking of modern boats.
- name of the tribe, of royal blood, descended from Ariki Hotu Matu'a.
- miro-oone, model boat made of earth in which the "boat festivals" used to be celebrated.
- miti, salt; to be soaked up (a liquid); to dry (a puddle of water): he-miti te puna.
- mitimiti, to click one's tongue in sign of disagreement or of annoyance ("tsk, tsk").
- mo, for (prep.): mo te aha, what for? (also: mo he); moira, because of this; mo aha-mai-á, ana oho au, what use is it to me, if I go?
- moa, poultry (general term); moa to'a, rooster; moa taga, chicken, moa rikiriki, chick; moa tarapiko, old rooster (with much twisted spurs - tara ); moa gao verapaka, chicken with bald neck; moa va'e verevere, with feathers on its legs; moa pipipipi with multicoloured spots; moa garahurahu, colour of dark ashes; moa tea, white; moa totara, frizzy; moa tu'a ivi raá, with bright yellow back.
- Moaha,
- name of an ákuáku.
- archaic term, may have meant "to protect, to save" but it is completely unknown today.
- moai, statue, figurine, likeness of a person or of an animal; moai ma'ea, stone statue; moai miro, wooden statue, moai toromiro, toromiro figurine (the toromiro is a tree now extinct).
- moamoa,
- a shellfish, vulgarly called "pico" (beak, spout), found sticking to the rocks of the coast.
- to look after, to care for (a sick person): e-moamoa koe i te tagata mamae, look after this sick man well.
- moamoai, the clouds that rise on the horizon, especially in the evenings, and look a bit like moai.
- moana, blue; name of a rock in the sea, opposite Tahai: motu haúre moana; a tribe of the island was called: Hau Moana.
- moe,
- to go to bed.
- to dream: he-moe i te pó.
- to wed, to cohabit with (ki).
- familiar expression: ka-moe-ata. leave it, don't pay attention to it.
- expression used upon seeing an object which brings the memory of someone: ka-moe-mai (here lies): ka-moe-mai te niho kai hônu o Hotu Matu'a...
- moehara, to stay in expectation of discovering something, of seeing something, whether a promise is fulfilled, etc.
- moemata, to dream, to see in a dream ( - moe i tepó).
- moega, mat formerly used as a bed.
- moemoe, to live promiscuously, to sleep around.
- mohimohi, smooth, hairless: kiri mohimohi - kiri magó, smooth hairless skin, like that of the dogfish (without scales).
- mo ko, mo ko ko, to get dark; (also mokirokiro); ekó hini ana-mo ko ko-ró it will be dark soon (there already being thick clouds).
- mokirokiro, to get dark.
- moko,
- lizard; moko manu uru, figurine of a lizard (made of wood).
- to throw oneself on something, to take quickly, to snatch; to flee into the depths (of fish); tagata moko, interloper, intruder, someone who seizes something quickly and swiflty, or cleverly intrudes somewhere; ka-moko ki te kai, ka-moko, ka-aaru, quickly grab some food, grab and catch.
- to throw oneself upon someone, to attack:: he-moko, he-reirei, to attack and kick.
- moko roa: to make a long line (of plantation); moko poto, to make a short line.
- see: ihu moko.
- Mokomae, name of an ancient tribe of the island.
- momoko,
- (reduplicative of moko) to flock onto something: ku-momoko-á te manu ki te ka, the birds threw themselves on the fish (on the surface of the sea).
- pointed; (seems to mean, in general, anything with a slim or pointed shape, like the shape of a lizard - moko), e.g. hanau momoko, slim people, slim race.
- momore, - more, to hack, to cut off; archaic expression: momore he-gava'e he-kakava - to split a hen in half before cooking it for two persons, so that one gets the lower half with the legs, the other the upper half with the breast.
- momotu, term used, according to old Eva Hey, for kete, bag, purse, small basket (made of vegetable fibres). It may have its origin in the term momotu. for islet, basket or purse needed to carry food when one went to Motu nui or some other motu.
- momomomo, moth-eaten, worm-eaten, of plants or clothing such as nua, often eaten by hiu (a moth endemic on the island).
- momotara, a fish, called "pez-vaca" (cowfish).
- mono, to offer or to ask for something in exchange for something else, to barter, to exchange: he-mono-atu au ki a koe i te uha, I offer you a hen (in exchange for something else).
- momotara, in the meaning of taking revenge, expresses the idea of killing someone in retaliation for someone else having been assassinated: Heto'o-maia Kaiga i a Makita, he-ta'o mo mono o tau poki era aana ko Maaga. Kainga caught Makita and cooked him in revenge of his son Maanga (whom he had killed because of Makita).
- more, to cut, to tear; cut or wound inflicted by sharp instrument like obsidian; manava more, sadness (lit: torn soul). Tu'a ivi more, lumbago.
- morega, slice, piece, bit, cutting.
- morí,
- a fish (of tasty flesh).
- modern term for grease, candle, lamp, light.
- moroki,
- chrysalis, pupa.
- any small fish used as bait on the fishhook, when fishing in the open sea; hau moroki, strong line used for fishing in deep waters with moroki bait.
- to make an excellent job of something; ahu moroki; ahu made of well-dressed stones, smooth and fitted together (like that of Vinapú); ka-moroki toou hare , build you house well! (today moroti, is also used instead of moroki).
- morore, bastard, illegitimate child.
- motamota, to sprinkle, to mottle, to marble something, e.g. a nua cape, sprinkling it with the juice of the púa plant.
- moté, a fish.
- motiho, to become cloudy, overcast: raá motiho, cloudy day; motiho-á te raá , the sky is overcast, dark (see mo ko).
- motu,
- to cut; to snap off: motu-á te hau, the fishing line snapped off; to engrave, to inscribe letters or pictures in stone or in wood, like the motu mo rogorogo, inscriptions for recitation in lines called kohau.
- islet; some names of islets: Motu Motiro Hiva, Sala y Gómez; and around the island: Motu Nui, Motu Iti, Motu Kaokao, Motu Tapu, Motu Marotiri, Motu Kau, Motu Tavake, Motu Tautara, Motu Ko Hepa Ko Maihori, Motu Hava.
- motuha,
- distributor, the host who has the honour of distributing food or other gifts at a feast.
- the person who directs and allocates the various tasks in a communal enterprise (like a foreman): motuha kupega, the man who manages the handling of the nets in a fishing expedition.
- motu rau uri, southeast wind.
- motu takarua, west wind.
- mou,
- to keep quiet, to be silent.
- to die: ku-mou-á te tagata era, that man has died.
- mouga, moúga, last: vânaga moúga o te Ariki O Hotu Matu'a, the last words of King Hotu Matu'a.
- moumou, to take to pieces, to undo, to pull down (a house, a building), to destroy.
- mu'a, front, before; used with prepositions a, i, o, ki, mai; i mu'a i.., in front of..., etc.
- mu a, to turn up (of swarms of flies); to swarm over a body (of flies).
- muko, joint father-in-law or mother-in-law.
- mukomuko,
- to present the Ariki in Anakena with the first fruits.
- upper part of a sugarcane used as a signal, stuck on top of a pipi horeko (stone mound); also any small stick on top of a stone mound, as a signal.
- mumú, taciturn, silent; mute.
- munimuni, short (see potopoto; teketeke).
- muraki, to bury; to deposit a corpse in the niche of an ahu or in a grave.
- mutamuta, talkative.
- muti, mutimuti,
- to wither for lack of moisture; to be destroyed (of plantations) by robbery or drought.
- to gnaw and suck: he-mutimuti te ivi o te moa, to gnaw and suck at the bones of a chicken.