English
kaumatua
Kaumatua comes from Māori kaumātua ‘adult, elder’, and goes back to Proto-Polynesian *kaumatuqa.
- Proto-Polynesianprehistoric (reconstructed)*kaumatuqareconstructed
- Māorimodernkaumātua‘adult, elder’
- Englishearliest quotation 1983kaumatua
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Polynesianprehistoric (reconstructed)*kaumatuqareconstructed
- Māorimodernkaumātua‘adult, elder’
- Englishearliest quotation 1983kaumatua
Earliest quotation: 1983, Keri Hulme, The Bone People: “The kaumatua would have rubbed the finished ring against…”
Every English word from Proto-Polynesian *kaumatuqa
Today it means
noun In Māori culture, an elder; a respected older person.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Polynesian *kaumatuqa / kaumatua