atua

British  

/ ˈɑːtuːə /

noun

1. a spirit or demon

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Etymology

Origin of atua

Māori

Example Sentences

Even the priest was puzzled, this, he said, was clearly a deceitful spirit, or atua, like those of which Porphyry complains, like most of them in fact. 

From Cock Lane and Common-Sense by Lang, Andrew

An interesting instance of this is given in Colenso's Maori Lexicon as illustrated by the meaning of the Maori word atua.

From Studies in the Psychology of Sex, Volume 1 The Evolution of Modesty; The Phenomena of Sexual Periodicity; Auto-Erotism by Ellis, Havelock

But though "god" is the nearest English equivalent of the word atua, we must beware of assuming that the Maori idea of godhead coincided with ours.

From The Belief in Immortality and the Worship of the Dead Vol. II by Frazer, James George, Sir

Here odooa is the Polynesian word which is usually spelled atua.

From The Belief in Immortality and the Worship of the Dead Vol. II by Frazer, James George, Sir

In Tikopia the ghosts of dead ancestors and relatives as well as animals are atua and this connotation of the word appears to be general in other parts of Polynesia.

From Man, Past and Present by Haddon, Alfred Court