Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com

iwi

British  
/ ˈiːwɪː /

noun

  1. a Māori tribe

"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

Etymology

Origin of iwi

Māori, literally: bone(s)

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

"Through our ongoing processes of collections reviews and documentation projects, in alignment with formal professional standards, National Museums NI was able to locate the missing iwi kῡpuna in November 2024."

From BBC • Feb. 13, 2025

Eventually, New Zealand’s government faced the country’s iwi, or tribes, over the colonial theft of their land.

From National Geographic • Oct. 4, 2023

Three weeks after wildfires burned through Lahaina, the search for human bones — or iwi, as they are known in Hawaiian — has wrapped up, and officials are shifting to clearing toxic debris.

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 31, 2023

A spokeswoman for Ngai Tahu, the main iwi of New Zealand’s South Island, said it had nothing to do with the incident.

From New York Times • Oct. 26, 2022

O moe hewa na iwi i ke alanui, alanui.

From Unwritten Literature of Hawaii The Sacred Songs of the Hula by Emerson, Nathaniel Bright