Whiro

Maori

Etymology

Cognate of Hawaiian Hilo, Rarotongan ʻiro, Tahitian Firo[1] (This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Sense of the dwarf planet from analogy of the Western name after the original Greco-Roman god – see also Hindi यम (yam) and Japanese 冥王星 Meiōsei after the Hindu deity Yama (冥王 Meiō)

Proper noun

Whiro

  1. The Maori god of darkness.
  2. The moon on the first night of a lunar month in the traditional Maori calendar.
  3. The sixteenth night of a lunar month in the Maori calendar, as observed by some tribes.
  4. The planet Mercury.
    Synonyms: Apārangi, Takero
  5. The dwarf planet Pluto.
    Synonym: Whiringa ki Tawhiti

References

  1. ^ Williams, H. W. (September 1928) “The Nights of the Moon”, in The Journal of the Polynesian Society‎[1], volume 37, number 3(147), pages 338–356

Further reading

  • “Whiro” in John C. Moorfield, Te Aka: Maori–English, English–Maori Dictionary and Index, 3rd edition, Longman/Pearson Education New Zealand, 2011, →ISBN.
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