Rei

1. To tread, to trample on: rei kiraro ki te va'e. 2. (Used figuratively) away with you! ka-rei kiraro koe, e mageo ê, go away, you disgusting man. 3. To shed tears: he rei i te mata vai. 4. Crescent-shaped breast ornament, necklace; reimiro, wooden, crescent-shaped breast ornament; rei matapuku, necklace made of coral or of mother-of-pearl; rei pipipipi, necklace made of shells; rei pureva, necklace made of stones. 5. Clavicle. Îka reirei, vanquished enemy, who is kicked (rei). Vanaga.

T. 1. Neck. 2. Figure-head. Rei mua = Figure-head in the bow. Rei muri = Figure-head in the stern. Henry.

Mother of pearl; rei kauaha, fin. Mgv.: rei, whale's tooth. Mq.: éi, id. This is probably associable with the general Polynesian rei, which means the tooth of the cachalot, an object held in such esteem that in Viti one tooth (tambua) was the ransom of a man's life, the ransom of a soul on the spirit path that led through the perils of Na Kauvandra to the last abode in Mbulotu. The word is undoubtedly descriptive, generic as to some character which Polynesian perception sees shared by whale ivory and nacre. Rei kauaha is not this rei; in the Maori whakarei designates the carved work at bow and stern of the canoe and Tahiti has the same use but without particularizing the carving: assuming a sense descriptive of something which projects in a relatively thin and flat form from the main body, and this describes these canoe ornaments, it will be seen that it might be applied to the fins of fishes, which in these waters are frequently ornamental in hue and shape. The latter sense is confined to the Tongafiti migration. Reirei, to trample down, to knead, to pound. Churchill.

Pau.: Rei-hopehopega, nape. Churchill.

Mg. Reiga, Spirit leaping-place:.

REIGA

At Mangaia the spirits of those who ignobly died 'on a pillow' wandered about disconsolately over the rocks near the margin of the sea until the day appointed by their leader comes (once a year).

...there are many little heaps of stones here and there on the bank along the Sea Coast, two or three of the uppermost stones of these piles are generally white, perhaps always so when the pile is compleat: it can hardly be doubted but these piles of stones have some meaning tho' we do not know it ...(Beaglehole II)

Beaglehole also states that these piles of stones are temporary burial places.

Many months might elapse ere the projected departures of the ghost took place. This weary interval was spent in dances and revisiting their former homes, where the living dwell affectionately remembered by the dead. At night fall they would wander amongst the trees and plantations nearest to these dwellings, sometimes venturing to peep inside. As a rule these ghosts were well disposed towards their own living relatives; but often became vindictive if a pet child was ill-treated by a stepmother or other relatives etc ...

Eventually the spirits would depart from known reinga, spirit leaping-places. Such leaping-places also existed on other islands. Even after this departure some spirit intrusions from the underworld were possible.' (Oral Traditions)