Salt water, deep sea, ocean. P Pau.: moana-tekereke, blue. Mgv.: moana, the sea, ocean. Mq.: moana, ocean, high sea. Ta.: moana, sea, ocean, abysmal depth or height, heaven. Churchill.

1. Ocean, sea (often used without an article); he-turu au ki tai hopu, I am going down to the sea to bathe. 2. To be calm, good for fishing: he tai. There exists a surprisingly developed terminology for distinguishing the phases of the tides: tai pâpaku, low tide; ku-gúgú-á te tai, tide at his lowest, literally 'the sea has dried up'; he-ranu te tai, when the water starts rising again; this is a strange expression, since ranu means 'amniotic liquid,' the breaking of the waters which precedes birth; in this phase of the tides the fish start coming out of their hiding places and swim to the coast in search of food; tai hahati, rising tide; tai hini hahati, tide as it continues rising; tai u'a, tai u'a parera, when the tide has reached its high; tai hini u'a, tide all throughout its full phase; tai hori, tide as it starts receding; tai ma'u, tide during its decreasing phase, right until it becomes tai pâpaku again; tai raurau a riki, the slight swell, or effervescence of the sea at a change of the moon. 3. Good spot for raising chickens; the stone chicken coops called hare moa, were built in places 'tai moa'. Ahé te tai o taau moa? whereabouts are the raising grounds of your chickens? 4. Song in general; song executed by a group of singers; ku-garo-ana i a au te kupu o te tai, I have forgotten the words of the song. Taitai, tasteless; said especially of sweet potatoes and other produces of the soil which do not taste good for being too watery; kumara taitai, watery, tasteless sweet potato. Vanaga.

1. Salt water; taitai, brackish, salty. P Mgv., Mq., Ta.: tai, salt water. Mq.: taitai, to salt. Ta.: taitai, salty. 2. Sea, ocean; tai hati, breakers; tai hohonu, depths of the sea; tai kaukau, tide; tai negonego, tide; tai o, ripple; tai parera, tide; tai poko, breakers; tai titi, tide; tai ua, tide, ebb; tai vanaga, ripple. P Mgv., Mq., Ta.: tai, sea, ocean. 3. Ta.: tai-ao, dawn. Mq.: takitaki te ao, just before dawn. Churchill.

Water, liquid, juice. 1. Vai tagata, semen, sperm (also: takatea). 2. Vai kava, saltwater, sea, ocean. Vanaga.

(Sweet) water. Vai-kura = blood. Barthel.

1. Water, liquid, fluid, sap, juice, gravy, fresh water as differing from tai seawater; hakavai to dissolve, to liquefy, to melt. P Pau.: ana-vai, a brook. Mgv.: vai, water. Mq.: vai, water, liquid, juice. Ta.: vai, sweet water, sap, juice. Vaihu (vai-u), milk. T Mq., Ta.: vaiu, milk. Vaipuga (vai-puna), spring water. P Mgv.: vaipuna, water which springs from among stones. Mq.: vaipuna, spring water. Ta.: vaipuna, a spring. Vaitahe (vai-tahe 1), river. 2. Pau.: Vai, to exist. Ta.: vai, to be, to exist. Vaiora, to survive. Sa.: vaiola, the spring 'water of life?' Ma.: waiora, water of life.

Vaitoa (vai-toa 2), sugar. Mgv.: vaito, id. Vaituru (vai-turu 1), water conduit. Vaivai, weak. PS Mq.: vaivai, soft, pleasant, agreeable. Sa., To.: vaivai, weak. Pau.: Vaiho, to set down, to place. Ta.: vaiiho, to place. Ma.: waiho, to set down. Pau.: Hakavaivai, to delay. Ta.: vaivai, to rest a bit. Ta.: Vaianu, a plant. Mq.: Vaimata, tears. Ha.: waimaka, id. Vaitahe, a flood. Sa.: vaitafe, a river. Ha.: waikahe, running water, flood. Vaitupu, spring water. To.: vaitubu, well water. Unuvai, to drink water; hipu unuvai, drinking glass. Churchill.

Sa., Fakaafo, To., Fu., Niuē, Uvea, Nukuoro, Ta., Rar., Tongareva, Mq., Mgv., Fotuna, Nuguria, Vaté: vai, water. Rapanui: vai, juice, liquid, water. Aniwa: vai, tavai, water. Ma., Ha.: wai, id. Sikayana: wai, wuai, id. Vi.: wai, water. Rotumā: vai, voi, id. Churchill 2.