taniwha

British  

/ ˈtʌniːfɑː, ˈtænəwɑː /

noun

1. a legendary Māori monster

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Etymology

Origin of taniwha

Māori

Example Sentences

It was supposed to run through a swamp that local Māori said was inhabited by a tempestuous taniwha.

From New York Times • Jun. 1, 2022

Understanding a river as the home of a taniwha, for example, helps describe its sinuous appearance and warn of its volatility or capacity to break its banks.

From New York Times • Jun. 1, 2022

A taniwha was the local tribe’s “way of codifying the observation made through years that this place floods from time to time,” Dr. Hikuroa said.

From New York Times • Jun. 1, 2022

"Take care, the pakeha is a taniwha; the pakeha is a tino tangata!"

From Old New Zealand A Tale of the Good Old Times; and A History of the War in the North against the Chief Heke, in the Year 1845 by Maori, A Pakeha

Sometimes the beast was a land animal, a lizard, etc, but the true taniwha is a water kelpie.

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