whakapapa

Borrowed from Maori whakapapa.

• enPR: fäʹ-kə-pä'-pə, IPA^(key): /ˈfɑːkəˌpɑːpə/
• (using Māori pronunciation) IPA^(key): [ˈfakapapa]

whakapapa (usually uncountable, plural whakapapas)

1. (New Zealand) Genealogy, as a fundamental principle of Māori culture that is critical in establishing one's identity.
   • 1983, Keri Hulme, The Bone People, Penguin, published 1986, page 98:

     What are you crying for? asks the Kati Kahukunu (he's probably my 23rd cousin but we haven't swapped whakapapa yet).

From whaka- (“to make”) +‎ papa (“flat and broad; a layer”).

Compare with Malay lapisan “layer, stratum (of society)” for similar semantic broadening.

• IPA^(key): /ˈɸa.ka.pa.pa/

whakapapa

1. To lie or lay flat.
2. To lay low or to strike down.
3. To lay one upon another, to layer.^[1]
4. To recite in order (genealogies, legends, etc.)

whakapapa

1. (obsolete) layering, the act of layering^[1]
2. Genealogy, genealogical table, descent, lineage.

   Synonym: tāhuhu

• Williams, Herbert William (1917) “papa”, in A Dictionary of the Maori Language, pages 301-2
• “whakapapa” in John C. Moorfield, Te Aka: Maori–English, English–Maori Dictionary and Index, 3rd edition, Longman/Pearson Education New Zealand, 2011, →ISBN.