English Explanatory Dictionary

waitoreke

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A cryptid of New Zealand, said variously to be a mammal resembling an otter, platypus or beaver, and to live in rivers.

Word forms

waitoreke

Etymology

Borrowed from Māori. The etymology is disputed. The first syllable is probably from Proto-Eastern Polynesian *wai (“water”), from Proto-Nuclear Polynesian *wai, from Proto-Polynesian *wai, from Proto-Oceanic *waiʀ, from Proto-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian *waiʀ, from Proto-Central-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian *waiʀ, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *wahiʀ. Māori toreke (“be left behind, forsaken”) can be found in dictionaries.

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