Speakur

Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

matariki

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.07 in modern English

Syllables
matari-ki
IPA
14
Scrabble Score
8
Letters
2
Syllables
6
Unique Chars

Meaning

name

The season, in late May or early June, when the Pleiades star cluster first rises, treated as the beginning of the new year by the Maori.

Etymology

Borrowed from Māori Matariki, from Proto-Eastern Polynesian Proto-Eastern Polynesian *mataliki, from Proto-Eastern Oceanic Proto-Eastern Polynesian *mataliki. One Maori folk etymology claims it represents ngā + mata + o + te + ariki + o + Tāwhirimātea, meaning "the eyes of the [wind] god Tāwhirimātea". In Māori legend, the Pleiades star cluster which it is named after was from Tāwhirimātea's plucked eyes. Cognate with Hawaiian makahiki.

Word Breakdown

  • Root: Matariki, *mataliki

Questions

What does matariki mean?
The season, in late May or early June, when the Pleiades star cluster first rises, treated as the beginning of the new year by the Maori.
Where does matariki come from?
Borrowed from Māori Matariki, from Proto-Eastern Polynesian Proto-Eastern Polynesian *mataliki, from Proto-Eastern Oceanic Proto-Eastern Polynesian *mataliki. One Maori folk etymology claims it represents ngā + mata + o + te + ariki + o + Tāwhirimātea, meaning "the eyes of the [wind] god Tāwhirimātea". In Māori legend, the Pleiades star cluster which it is named after was from Tāwhirimātea's plucked eyes. Cognate with Hawaiian makahiki.

How to pronounce matariki

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