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taniwha

British  
/ ˈtʌniːfɑː, ˈtænəwɑː /

noun

  1. a legendary Māori monster

"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 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.

See Examples For:

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

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

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

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

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