moko

British

/ ˈməʊkəʊ /

noun

Also called: nanua. a Māori tattoo or tattoo pattern

"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 moko

Māori

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.

On her chin, Marshall wore a traditional Māori tattoo, a moko kauae.

From Seattle Times • Aug. 14, 2022

Men's moko tend to cover their entire face, while the women's cover the chin.

From BBC • May 23, 2018

Ms Lee-Penehira got her moko done some 12 years ago and says that at the time it was still unusual for women to do so.

From BBC • May 23, 2018

The moko "stands as a bastion of our survival", she wrote.

From BBC • May 23, 2018

This is a mythological monster known in some sections by the name Taniwha, and in others as moko or mo’o.

From Day Symbols of the Maya Year Sixteenth Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1894-1895, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1897, pages 199-266. by Thomas, Cyrus

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023