"Matariki" meaning in Maori

See Matariki in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Proper name

Etymology: From Proto-Eastern Polynesian *matafiti, Proto-Eastern Polynesian *matasiti. One Maori folk etymology claims it represents ngā + mata + o + te + ariki + o + Tāwhirimātea, meaning "the eyes of the [wind] god Tāwhirimātea". In Māori legend, the Pleiades star cluster which it is named after was from Tāwhirimātea's plucked eyes. Cognate with Hawaiian makahiki. Etymology templates: {{inh|mi|poz-pep-pro|*matafiti}} Proto-Eastern Polynesian *matafiti, {{inh|mi|poz-pep-pro|*matasiti}} Proto-Eastern Polynesian *matasiti, {{af|mi|ngā|mata|o|te|ariki|o|Tāwhirimātea|nocat=1}} ngā + mata + o + te + ariki + o + Tāwhirimātea, {{cog|haw|makahiki}} Hawaiian makahiki Head templates: {{head|mi|proper noun}} Matariki
  1. The season, in late May or early June, when the Pleiades star cluster first rises, treated as the beginning of the new year by the Maori.
    Sense id: en-Matariki-mi-name-q~8nusGg Categories (other): Maori entries with incorrect language header, Holidays, Maori mythology, Stars Disambiguation of Maori entries with incorrect language header: 86 14 Disambiguation of Holidays: 100 0 Disambiguation of Maori mythology: 79 21 Disambiguation of Stars: 59 41
  2. The Pleiades star cluster
    Sense id: en-Matariki-mi-name-epMrFQ7R
{
  "descendants": [
    {
      "depth": 1,
      "templates": [
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          "args": {
            "1": "en",
            "2": "Matariki",
            "bor": "1"
          },
          "expansion": "→ English: Matariki",
          "name": "desc"
        }
      ],
      "text": "→ English: Matariki"
    }
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      "args": {
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        "2": "ngā",
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        "6": "ariki",
        "7": "o",
        "8": "Tāwhirimātea",
        "nocat": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "ngā + mata + o + te + ariki + o + Tāwhirimātea",
      "name": "af"
    },
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        "2": "makahiki"
      },
      "expansion": "Hawaiian makahiki",
      "name": "cog"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From Proto-Eastern Polynesian *matafiti, Proto-Eastern Polynesian *matasiti.\nOne Maori folk etymology claims it represents ngā + mata + o + te + ariki + o + Tāwhirimātea, meaning \"the eyes of the [wind] god Tāwhirimātea\". In Māori legend, the Pleiades star cluster which it is named after was from Tāwhirimātea's plucked eyes.\nCognate with Hawaiian makahiki.",
  "head_templates": [
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      "args": {
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  "lang": "Maori",
  "lang_code": "mi",
  "pos": "name",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "86 14",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Maori entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
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          "_dis": "100 0",
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          "orig": "mi:Maori mythology",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
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          "_dis": "59 41",
          "kind": "other",
          "langcode": "mi",
          "name": "Stars",
          "orig": "mi:Stars",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "The season, in late May or early June, when the Pleiades star cluster first rises, treated as the beginning of the new year by the Maori."
      ],
      "id": "en-Matariki-mi-name-q~8nusGg",
      "links": [
        [
          "season",
          "season"
        ],
        [
          "May",
          "May"
        ],
        [
          "June",
          "June"
        ],
        [
          "Pleiades",
          "Pleiades"
        ],
        [
          "star cluster",
          "star cluster"
        ],
        [
          "rise",
          "rise"
        ],
        [
          "Maori",
          "Maori"
        ]
      ]
    },
    {
      "glosses": [
        "The Pleiades star cluster"
      ],
      "id": "en-Matariki-mi-name-epMrFQ7R",
      "links": [
        [
          "Pleiades",
          "Pleiades"
        ]
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "Matariki"
}
{
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    "Maori lemmas",
    "Maori proper nouns",
    "Maori terms derived from Proto-Eastern Polynesian",
    "Maori terms inherited from Proto-Eastern Polynesian",
    "Pages with 2 entries",
    "Pages with entries",
    "mi:Holidays",
    "mi:Maori mythology",
    "mi:Stars"
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  "descendants": [
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          "expansion": "→ English: Matariki",
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      "text": "→ English: Matariki"
    }
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      "args": {
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        "2": "poz-pep-pro",
        "3": "*matafiti"
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      "expansion": "Proto-Eastern Polynesian *matafiti",
      "name": "inh"
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    {
      "args": {
        "1": "mi",
        "2": "poz-pep-pro",
        "3": "*matasiti"
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      "expansion": "Proto-Eastern Polynesian *matasiti",
      "name": "inh"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "mi",
        "2": "ngā",
        "3": "mata",
        "4": "o",
        "5": "te",
        "6": "ariki",
        "7": "o",
        "8": "Tāwhirimātea",
        "nocat": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "ngā + mata + o + te + ariki + o + Tāwhirimātea",
      "name": "af"
    },
    {
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        "1": "haw",
        "2": "makahiki"
      },
      "expansion": "Hawaiian makahiki",
      "name": "cog"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From Proto-Eastern Polynesian *matafiti, Proto-Eastern Polynesian *matasiti.\nOne Maori folk etymology claims it represents ngā + mata + o + te + ariki + o + Tāwhirimātea, meaning \"the eyes of the [wind] god Tāwhirimātea\". In Māori legend, the Pleiades star cluster which it is named after was from Tāwhirimātea's plucked eyes.\nCognate with Hawaiian makahiki.",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "mi",
        "2": "proper noun"
      },
      "expansion": "Matariki",
      "name": "head"
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  "lang": "Maori",
  "lang_code": "mi",
  "pos": "name",
  "senses": [
    {
      "glosses": [
        "The season, in late May or early June, when the Pleiades star cluster first rises, treated as the beginning of the new year by the Maori."
      ],
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        [
          "season",
          "season"
        ],
        [
          "May",
          "May"
        ],
        [
          "June",
          "June"
        ],
        [
          "Pleiades",
          "Pleiades"
        ],
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          "star cluster",
          "star cluster"
        ],
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          "rise",
          "rise"
        ],
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        "The Pleiades star cluster"
      ],
      "links": [
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          "Pleiades"
        ]
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "Matariki"
}

Download raw JSONL data for Matariki meaning in Maori (2.0kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable Maori dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2025-06-05 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2025-06-01 using wiktextract (5ee713e and f1c2b61). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.