Maori Words & Phrases Glossary

Kia ora — Hello
Kia ora tatou  — Hello everyone
Tena koe — Greetings to you (said to one person)
Tena koutou  — Greeting to you all
Haere mai  — Welcome
Kei te pai  — Good
Tino pai  — Really good
Haere ra  — Farewell
Ka kite ano — Until I see you again (Bye)
Hei konei ra — See you later

Aotearoa - New Zealand
ariki - paramount chief
aroha - regard, love, compassion
atua - god or spirit

haka - war dance
hangi - earth oven, food cooked within
hapu - sub-tribe
hui - gathering  
   
inanga - whitebait
iwi - tribe

kai - food
kai moana - seafood
kainga - home town
karakia - prayer
kaumatua - elder, family head
kaupapa - topics of discussion
kauri - forest tree
kawa - marae etiquette
kiekie - climbing plant
koru - fern frond
kotahitanga - unity
kumara - sweet potato

makutu - sorcery
mana - spiritual power, authority, prestige
manaia - bone carving
marae - Maori meeting grounds
moa - large flightless bird, now extinct
moko - tattoo
  
oriori - lullaby

pa - fort
pakeha - person of non-Maori descent (European)
poi - dance with poi (light balls on strings)

rangatira - chief
runanga - political grouping  
   
tangi - funeral, cry of lament
taniwha - water-dwelling spirit or monster
taonga - treasure
tapu - sacred
tiki - stylized human image made from wood or stone
toetoe - various species of long grass with tall, feathery flowerheads
tohunga - expert, often in religious matters
tuahu - shrine, sacred place
tupuna (tipuna) - ancestors

urupa - burial ground

waiata - song
waka - boat, canoe, group of tribes descended from occupants of a migratory canoe
whakapapa - genealogy
whanau - extended family
whare - house
wharekai - kitchen
wharenui (wharepuni) - meeting house