matikuku

Maori

Etymology

From Proto-Polynesian *matikuku (compare with Rarotongan matikuku) ultimately prefixed from Proto-Oceanic *kuku “nail” (compare with Fijian kuku) from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *kuku “ibid.” (compare with Malay kuku, Tagalog kuko).[1] Also reanalyzable as mati ~ matimati “finger” + kuku.

Noun

matikuku

  1. nail (of the fingers and toes)
    Synonym: maikuku
  2. hoof
  3. claw, talon (of birds etc)
    • 2021, “Hatupatu”, performed by Alien Weaponry:
      Matikuku aneane, ka hopu ki ahau (Ki ahau!)
      Sharp claws snatch at me (At me!)

References

  1. ^ Ross Clark and Simon J. Greenhill, editors (2011), “mati-kuku”, in “POLLEX-Online: The Polynesian Lexicon Project Online”, in Oceanic Linguistics, volume 50, number 2, pages 551-559

Further reading

  • Williams, Herbert William (1917) “matikuku”, in A Dictionary of the Maori Language, page 216
  • “matikuku” 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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