To throng, to flock, to crowd, used of people gathering in great numbers for a feast, for mourning, for working, etc. he-rotu, he-tatagi, the mourners are flocking together; he-rotu i te umu, they are crowding around the earth oven; he-rotu, he aga, they come to work in throngs. Roturotu, to clap hand, to applaud. Vanaga.

Roturotu: 1. To clap, to wink. PS Pau.: rotu, to strike the water. Mgv: rotu, to beat the sea in order to frighten fish into a net, to beat a drum. Mq.: ótu, to drive fish into the seine. Ta.: rotu, to strike. Sa.: lotu, to make a hollow sound in the water with the hand. 2. To take to pieces. Churchill.

To assist. T Ma.: tahutahu, to attend upon. Tahuga, pair, to share out, to put in order, to distribute. Hakatahuga, to put in pairs, to arrange. P (Metathetic from stem tufa). Mgv.: tahua, a collection of things properly classified and kept in order. Mq.: tauna, a couple. Churchill.

Pau.: tahua. 1. Field of battle. Ta.: tahua, id. 2. Floor. Ta.: tahua, id. Tahuga, wise, capable, doctor, artisan. Mgv.: tuhuga, wise, instructed, adroit. Mq.: tuhuna, wise, instructed, artisan. Sa.: tufuga, carpenter. Ma.: tohunga, adroit, wise, priest. Tahutahu, sorcerer. Ta.: tahu, sorcerer. Mgv.: tahu. 1. A tenant farmer. Ma.: tahu, opulent, possessing property. 2. To stir up a fire. Ta.: to build a fire, to light. Mq.: tahu, to light a fire. Sa.: tafu, id. Ma.: to set on fire, to kindle, to cook. Tahuna, a shallow, shoal, bank. Mq.: tahuna, beach gravel, shingle. Sa.: tafuna, a rocky place in the sea. Ma.: a shoal, a beach. Tohua, a place of public assembly. Mq.: tohua, public place, soil, land. Mq.: tahuahi, the servant in charge of the fire. Ha.: kahuahi, id. Churchill.

Ta.: tahuhu, ridgepole. Ma.: tahuhu, id. Mgv.: tohuhu, a ridgepole. Mq.: tohuhu, ridge, roofing. Churchill.

T. Tahua, board, plank. Tahu'a, T. Priest, artist. OR. Tahua mimi, bladder. Fischer.

To start rotting, going bad (e.g. a lobster, a fish). See also mamara. Vanaga.

Mgv.: mara, open land, cultivated field. Mq.: mara, maa, land under tilth. Ta.: amara, the first stone of a marae, etc. Sa.: mala, a new plantation. Ma.: mara, land under tilth. Churchill.

Sa.: malae, the town green. Nukuoro: malae, a cleared space, an open place, a plantation. To.: malae, a gree, a grass plot ... Ha.: malae, smooth (as a plain) ... Ma.: marae, an inclosed place in front of a house. Ta.: marae, the sacred place of worship ... Vi.: mara, a burying place ... In note 261 I have advanced the opinion that malae is in form a conditional derivative of lae. This holds of the signification found in Nuclear Polynesia. The secondary sense which the Tongafiti carried to eastern Polynesia has obscured the lae element; but the sacrosanct content of the marae in the four-godded theology of eastern Polynesia is after all but a logical outgrowth of the Nuclear Polynesian malae as the civic center of social life where god is sole, surpreme - and Lucretian ... Churchill 2.

First (always follows the noun): te tagata ra'e, the first man; (the other ordinal numerals, second, third, etc., precede the noun. Translator's note: ra'e is likely the noun which means forehead, face, in other Polynesian language, e.g. Tahitian rae). Vanaga.

1. Commencement, beginning, to strike up, to essay, to occasion, to proceed, former, primitive, precedent, predecessor, first-fruits; rae ki te mea hou, to innovate; oho rae, to march at the head; tagata rae, advance guard, van; raega, commencement, beginning, occasion, first-fruits. 2. To attack, to provoke; kakai rae, toua rae, to provoke. Churchill.

Mgv.: a song for the dead, chant. Mq.: kapa, a heathen song. Mgv.: aka-kapakapa, an eager desire balked by timidity. Ta.: apaapa, to flutter the wings. To.: kabakaba, id. Ma.: kapakapa, to flutter. Churchill.

Tu.: Kapakapa, portion, particle. Ta.: apaapaa, fragment, bit, chip. Churchill.

In Polynesia gliding flight is expressed by lele, flight on flapping wing by kapa. In Nuclear Polynesia kapa does not pass into the wing sense except through the aid of a composition memeber kau. In Samoan 'au we find this to mean a stalk, a handle; in reference to the body its sense as that of some projecting member is exhibited in 'aualuma (the 'au in front) as a very delicate euphemism for the penis. So 'apa'au would mean literally the projecting member that flaps. Churchill 2.