whiwhi

Maori

Etymology 1

From Proto-Nuclear Polynesian *fifi (“entangled, confused” – compare with Tahitian fifi “chain”) related to Proto-Oceanic *pisi (“bind up, tie up, wind round, wrap” – compare with Tongan fihi “tangled, intricate, complicated”, Samoan fisi “to entwine” and Fijian vici “to bind, to coil”)[1][2]

Verb

whiwhi

  1. to wind round, to fasten
    Synonym: rawe
  2. to wrap around
    Synonym: rawe
  3. to encircle

Adjective

whiwhi

  1. entangled, knotted
  2. complex, complicated
    Synonyms: matatini, manganga

Noun

whiwhi

  1. fat covering entrails

Derived terms

  • powhiwhi
  • whakawhiwhi
  • whiwhinga
  • whīwhiwhi

References

  1. ^ See “fifi.2a”, “fisi” in POLLEX-Online: The Polynesian Lexicon Project Online. Ross Clark and Simon J. Greenhill, editors (2011).
  2. ^ Ross, Malcolm D., Pawley, Andrew, Osmond, Meredith (1998) The lexicon of Proto-Oceanic, volume 1: Material Culture, Canberra: Australian National University, →ISBN, pages 292-3

Etymology 2

Likely from whai “to possess, to pursue, to lay hold of” via conflation with reduplicated from whaiwhai.

Verb

whiwhi

  1. to acquire, to possess
    Synonym: whai

Further reading

  • Williams, Herbert William (1917) “whiwhi”, in A Dictionary of the Maori Language, page 586
  • “whiwhi” 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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