waitoreke
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English
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Borrowed from Maori. 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. Maori toreke (“be left behind, forsaken”) can be found in dictionaries.
Noun
[edit]waitoreke (plural waitoreke)
- A cryptid of New Zealand, said variously to be a mammal resembling an otter, platypus or beaver, and to live in rivers.
Categories:
- English terms borrowed from Maori
- English terms derived from Maori
- English terms derived from Proto-Eastern Polynesian
- English terms derived from Proto-Nuclear Polynesian
- English terms derived from Proto-Polynesian
- English terms derived from Proto-Oceanic
- English terms derived from Proto-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian
- English terms derived from Proto-Central-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian
- English terms derived from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- English nouns with irregular plurals
- English indeclinable nouns
- en:Cryptozoology