toa

American  

[tohuh] / toʊə /

noun

1. in various Indigenous Polynesian cultures, a fearless warrior.

2. a tall hardwood tree (Casuarina equisetifolia ) native to Southeast Asia, Australia, and Polynesia: used by the Indigenous inhabitants of Polynesia to make tools and weapons.

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Etymology

Origin of toa

First recorded in 1775–85; toa def. 1 from Maori; toa def. 2 from one of the Polynesian languages, perhaps also Maori

Example Sentences

According toa new report by the Pew Research Center, the new Congress has 91 members who are nonwhite, accounting for 17 percent of the legislative body.

From New York Times • Jan. 12, 2015

Four people inside were taken to area hospitals in serious-to-critical condition, according toa spokesman for the Chicago Fire Department, but police said a woman and two men were taken from the scene.

From Chicago Tribune • Mar. 17, 2012

We got off toa bad start, then we played about as well as we can play.

From Washington Post • Oct. 26, 2010

Meyler, who was there to deliver a load of vitamins, took Esther to live at the guest house, and the girl later moved toa government-run home for orphans.

From Washington Post

"Formerly the toa was regarded as sacred, and planted in groves round the 'Morais' of Tahiti."

From The Works of Lord Byron. Vol. 5 Poetry by Coleridge, Ernest Hartley