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 or 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. 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. Churchill.

Deep; tai hohonu, depths of the sea; hakahohonu, to deepen; ata hakahohonu, abyss. Churchill.

1. Turtle. 2. Spider (the species found in houses). Vanaga.

1. Person worthy of respect, person of authority. 2. Livelihood, heirloom, capital; ka moe koe ki toou hônui, you must marry to ensure your livelihood (said to a little girl); he hônui mo taaku poki, this is the heirloom for my son. Vanaga.

Great (hoonui); honui, chief T.; tagata hoonui, personage; hakahonui, to praise, to commend. Churchill.

1. Any large, smooth rock in the sea not covered by seaweeds (eels are often found between such rocks). 2. To be left (of a small residue of something, of sediments of a liquid, of dregs); to settle (of sediments); ku-toka-ana te vai i raro i te puna, there is little water left at the bottom of the lake; ku-toka-á te oone, the sediments have settled. Tokaga, residue, remainder; firm, stable remainder or part of somthing. Vanaga.

A rock under water. P Mgv.: toka, coral. Mq.: toka, a bank where the fishing is good. Ta.: toa, rock, coral. Tokatagi, sorrow T. Churchill.

To cut with scissors (since this is an old word and scissors do not seem to have existed, it must mean something of the kind). Vanaga.

To tear; kokoti, to cut, to chop, to hew, to cleave, to assassinate, to amputate, to scar, to notch, to carve, to use a knife, to cut off, to lop, to gash, to mow, to saw; kokotiga kore, indivisible; kokotihaga, cutting, gash furrow. Churchill.

1. Umbilical cord; navel; centre of something: te pito o te henua, centre of the world. Ana poreko te poki, ina ekó rivariva mo uru ki roto ki te hare o here'u i te poki; e-nanagi te pito o te poki, ai ka-rivariva mo uru ki roto ki te hare, when a child is born one must not enter the house immediately, for fear of injuring the child (that is, by breaking the taboo on a house where birth takes place); only after the umbilical cord has been severed can one enter the house. 2. Also something used for doing one's buttons up (buttonhole?). Vanaga.

Navel. Churchill.

H Piko 1. Navel, navel string, umbilical cord. Fig. blood relative, genitals. Cfr piko pau 'iole, wai'olu. Mō ka piko, moku ka piko, wehe i ka piko, the navel cord is cut [friendship between related persons is broken; a relative is cast out of a family]. Pehea kō piko? How is your navel [a facetious greeting avoided by some because of the double meaning]? 2. Summit or top of a hill or mountain; crest; crown of the head; crown of the hat made on a frame (pāpale pahu); tip of the ear; end of a rope; border of a land; center, as of a fishpond wall or kōnane board; place where a stem is attached to the leaf, as of taro. 3. Short for alopiko. I ka piko nō 'oe, lihaliha (song), at the belly portion itself, so very choice and fat. 4. A common taro with many varieties, all with the leaf blade indented at the base up to the piko, junction of blade and stem. 5. Design in plaiting the hat called pāpale 'ie. 6. Bottom round of a carrying net, kōkō. 7. Small wauke rootlets from an old plant. 8. Thatch above a door. 'Oki i ka piko, to cut this thatch; fig. to dedicate a house. Wehewehe.