English

Proper noun

Aotearoa

1. (chiefly New Zealand, obsolete) The North Island of New Zealand.
   • 1855, Sir George Grey, Polynesian mythology and ancient traditional history of the New Zealand race: as furnished by their priests and chiefs:

     he found in the sea this island Aotearoa (the northern island of New Zealand), and he thought he would land there.

2. (chiefly New Zealand) New Zealand.
   • 1981, Split Enz, Six Months in a Leaky Boat:

     Aotearoa / rugged individual / glistens like a pearl at the bottom of the world [...].

   • 2009, Diarmaid MacCulloch, A History of Christianity, Penguin 2010, p. 877:

     The Maori in Aotearoa (the pair of major islands which Europeans have known as New Zealand) were part of the same oceanic culture.

Synonyms

• (North Island): North Island
• (New Zealand): Aotearoa New Zealand, New Zealand

Derived terms

• Aotearoan

See also

• Kiwi

References

• The Dictionary of New Zealand English: A Dictionary of New Zealandisms on Historical Principles, H. W. Orsman (editor), Oxford University Press (Auckland), 1997.
• The New Zealand Oxford Dictionary, T. Deverson & G. Kennedy (editors), Oxford University Press (Victoria), 2005
• The Penguin History of New Zealand, M. King, Penguin Books (Auckland), 2004

Hawaiian

Etymology

Borrowing from Maori Aotearoa in the 20th century.

Proper noun

Aotearoa

1. New Zealand

Synonyms

• Nukilani

Maori

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /aɔˈtearɔa/

Proper noun

Aotearoa

1. (obsolete) North Island (of New Zealand)
2. New Zealand

Portuguese

Proper noun

Aotearoa f

1. Aotearoa (Maori name of New Zealand)

Synonyms

• Nova Zelândia