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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.

See Examples For:

Ngarewa-Packer is among one of the eight Taranaki iwi, on New Zealand's west coast, to whom the mountain is sacred.

From BBC Jan. 30, 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

Rev. W. W. Gill tells me that the Maori word for bone is iwi, but he suspects a foreign origin for the fable founded on it.52.Tree and Serpent Worship, by James Fergusson.

From Chips From A German Workshop, Vol. V. Miscellaneous Later Essays by F. Max (Friedrich Max) Müller

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