taniwha
Britishnoun
Etymology
Origin of taniwha
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.
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
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
Sometimes the beast was a land animal, a lizard, etc, but the true taniwha is a water kelpie.
"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
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
