n.
(pronounced so as to rhyme with Dowry).
1) The name used to designate themselves bythe Polynesian race occupying New Zealand when it wasdiscovered by the white man, and which still survives. Theyare not aboriginal as is commonly supposed, but migrated intoNew Zealand about 500 years ago from Hawaii, the traditionstill surviving of the two great canoes ( Arawa and Tainui) in which the pioneers arrived. They arecommonly spoken of as the Natives of New Zealand.
2) The language of the Maori race.
3) adj. applied to anything pertaining to the Maoris ortheir language. See Pakeha.
There is a discussion on the word in the `Journal of PolynesianSociety,' vol. i. no. 3, vol. ii. no. 1, and vol. iii. no. i.Bishop Williams (4th ed.) says that the word means, «of thenormal or usual kind.» The Pakehas were not men to whom thenatives were accustomed. So Maori was used as opposed to theEuropeans, the white-skins. Kuri Maori was a name usedfor a dog after the arrival of other quadrupeds called also kuri. Wai maori was freshwater, ordinary asopposed to sea-water. Another explanation is that the wordmeant «indigenous,» and that there are kindred words with thatmeaning in other Polynesian languages. First, «indigenous,» or «of the native race,» and then with a secondary meaning,«ours.» (See Tregear's Maori Comparative Dictionary,' s.v.)
The form of the plural varies. The form Maorisis considered the more correct, but the form Maoriesis frequently used by good writers.
1845. E. J. Wakefield, `Adventures in New Zealand,' vol. i.p. 194:
«The Maori language is essentially a poor one, and possessesin particular but few words which express abstract ideas.»
1859. A. S. Thomson, `Story of New Zealand,' vol. i. c. iii.p. 51:
«No light is thrown on the origin of the New Zealanders fromthe name Maori which they call themselves. This word, renderedby linguists `native,' is used in contradistinction to pakeha,or stranger.»
1864. Crosbie Ward, `Canterbury Rhymes,' `The Runaways' (2ndedition), p. 79:
«One morn they fought, the fight was hot,
Although the day was show'ry;
And many a gallant soldier then
Was bid Memento Maori.»
1891. Jessie Mackay, `The Sitter on the Rail, and otherPoems,' p. 61:
«Like the night, the fated Maori
Fights the coming day;
Fights and falls as doth the kauri
Hewn by axe away.»
4) Name given in New South Wales to the fish, Cosislineolatus, one of the Labridae, or Wrasses.