tiki

[tee-kee]

noun

(initial capital letter) (in Polynesian mythology) the first man on earth.
(in Polynesian cultures) a carved image, as of a god or ancestor, sometimes worn as a pendant around the neck.

Origin of tiki

1875–80; < Maori and Marquesan

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for tiki

Contemporary Examples of tiki

Elderly women played Triple Double Diamond and Tiki Magic while they chain-smoked.
I Watched a Casino Kill Itself: The Awful Last Nights of Atlantic City’s Taj Mahal
Olivia Nuzzi
December 8, 2014
One of the oldest adult theaters in Los Angeles, the Tiki is open 24 hours a day.
The Tale Behind Fred Willard’s Arrest in an Adult Film Theater
Christine Pelisek
July 19, 2012

Historical Examples of tiki

Tiki was the first man, and when he died, ruled the entrance of the under-world.
Evolution in Art
Alfred C. Haddon
As he had made man in his own likeness he called him Tiki-ahua or Tiki's likeness.
Darwin and Modern Science
A.C. Seward and Others
To the Marquesan these are all tiki, or charms, which have superseded their own.
White Shadows in the South Seas
Frederick O'Brien
I have never looked upon Brutus as anything of an original genius, but Tiki Whenua most certainly was.
Old New Zealand
Earl of Pembroke.
Man was made by Tiki, who took red clay, and kneaded it with his own blood, or with the red water of swamps.
Myth, Ritual, and Religion, Vol. 1
Andrew Lang

British Dictionary definitions for tiki

tiki

noun

an amulet or figurine in the form of a carved representation of an ancestor, worn in some Māori cultures

verb

(intr) NZ to take a scenic tour around an area

Word Origin for tiki

from Māori

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

Word Origin and History for tiki

Tiki

"large wooden image of the creator-ancestor of Maoris and Polynesians," 1777, from Eastern Polynesian tiki "image." Tiki torch is first recorded 1973.