tiki
[tee-kee]
- (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.
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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
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 MahalOlivia Nuzzi
December 8, 2014
One of the oldest adult theaters in Los Angeles, the Tiki is open 24 hours a day.
Historical Examples
Tiki was the first man, and when he died, ruled the entrance of the under-world.
Evolution in ArtAlfred C. Haddon
As he had made man in his own likeness he called him Tiki-ahua or Tiki's likeness.
Darwin and Modern ScienceA.C. Seward and Others
To the Marquesan these are all tiki, or charms, which have superseded their own.
White Shadows in the South SeasFrederick O'Brien
I have never looked upon Brutus as anything of an original genius, but Tiki Whenua most certainly was.
Old New ZealandEarl 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. 1Andrew Lang
tiki
- an amulet or figurine in the form of a carved representation of an ancestor, worn in some Māori cultures
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- (intr) NZ to take a scenic tour around an area
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Word Origin
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
n.
"large wooden image of the creator-ancestor of Maoris and Polynesians," 1777, from Eastern Polynesian tiki "image." Tiki torch is first recorded 1973.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper