Etymology
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From Proto-Polynesian *ŋaakau; compare with Hawaiian naʻau (“intestines, mind”), Tahitian ʻāʻau (“bowels, heart, conscience, soul”), Tongan ngākau (“intestines”) and Samoan gāʻau (“entrails, penis”).[1][2]
ngākau
- heart, mind, soul
- (archaic) intestines, bowels
References
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- ^ Tregear, Edward (1891) Maori-Polynesian Comparative Dictionary[1], Wellington, New Zealand: Lyon and Blair, pages 275-6
- ^ Ross Clark and Simon J. Greenhill, editors (2011), “gaakau”, in POLLEX-Online: The Polynesian Lexicon Project Online
Further reading
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- “ngākau” in John C. Moorfield, Te Aka: Maori–English, English–Maori Dictionary and Index, 3rd edition, Longman/Pearson Education New Zealand, 2011, →ISBN.
