Utu
noun
the Sumerian sun god: the counterpart of the Akkadian Shamash.
Utu
American
[oo-too]
/ ˈu tu /
noun
utu
British
/ uːtuː /
noun
-
compensation or reward
-
revenge or retribution
-
payment, price, or money
Etymology
Origin of utu
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:
The Utu Utu Gwaitu Paiute are among a coalition that wants to pause the planned roundups for two years and ultimately secure land back to set aside a sanctuary for the horses to roam.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 7, 2025
Donte Utu, a three-star prospect from Punahou HS, the famed Honolulu power, pledged to the Cardinal on Monday.
From Seattle Times ● May 9, 2024
There, however, he is imprisoned, only to be freed when the young warrior Utu opens a hole to the surface and carries Enkidu back out on a lofting breeze.
From The Guardian ● Apr. 20, 2019
Others like Utu Abe Malae, chairman of the Republican Party in American Samoa, said that he would never support Trump, though he was not ready to commit to Cruz.
From Time ● Apr. 24, 2016
Utu or payment is invariably expected for any injustice committed, and is exacted in some shape, the sufferer feeling debased in his own opinion until he obtains satisfaction.
From Austral English A dictionary of Australasian words, phrases and usages with those aboriginal-Australian and Maori words which have become incorporated in the language, and the commoner scientific words that have had their origin in Australasia by Edward Ellis Morris
As we sank I heard one grand roar of wild laughter from the shore: the word utu I heard roared by many voices, but did not then know its import.
From Old New Zealand: being Incidents of Native Customs and Character in the Old Times by 'A Pakeha Maori'
As we sank I heard one grand roar of wild laughter from the shore—the word utu I heard roared by many voices, but did not then know its import.
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 A Pakeha Maori
Some large gatala , he said, had just made their appearance with the utu and were pursuing the small fish; therefore would we please hurry forward with our preparations.
From By Rock and Pool on an Austral Shore, and Other Stories by Louis Becke
But the obtaining of utu was almost the main object of the heathen Maori.
From A History of the English Church in New Zealand by H. T. (Henry Thomas) Purchas
This month was called Toe utu va, or digging again, and so named from the yam crop.
From Samoa, A Hundred Years Ago And Long Before by George Turner
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.
