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hongi

[hong-ee]
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noun New Zealand.

a Maori greeting in which noses are pressed together.

Origin of hongi

Borrowed into English from Maori around 1840–45
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for hongi

Historical Examples of hongi

  • (p. 227) And they came, and with them came Te Kahakaha, he who had been Hongi's chosen friend.

    Old New Zealand

    Earl of Pembroke.

  • He was a brave old warrior, and had also fought in the wars of Hongi Ika.

    Old New Zealand

    Earl of Pembroke.

  • Hongi raided Whangaroa and there received a dangerous wound.

  • Of them the most celebrated was the son of Hongi's old antagonist, Te Waharoa.

    The Long White Cloud

    William Pember Reeves

  • Near the end of the narrative, Rutherford gives an account of a great battle, in which the chief Hongi was a prominent figure.

British Dictionary definitions for hongi

hongi

noun

NZ a form of salutation expressed by touching noses

Word Origin for hongi

Māori
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012