Aotearoa
/aɔtɛaˈɾɔa/noun
The Māori name for New Zealand.
Did you know?Although the “long white cloud” translation is widely popular, Māori scholars note that ao can mean “day,” “light,” “world,” or “cloud,” so the name has never had only one universally fixed interpretation.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Polynesian
Proto-Polynesian
*ao
“Daylight, light, cloud, or world; the exact sense varies by Polynesian language.”
Proto-Polynesian
Proto-Polynesian
*tea
“White, bright, or clear.”
Proto-Polynesian
Proto-Polynesian
*loa
“Long, lasting, or extended.”
Māori
Māori
ao tea roa
“A compound conventionally interpreted as “long bright/white cloud” or “long daylight.””
18th Century
Māori
Aotearoa
“The established Māori name for the islands now known in English as New Zealand.”
Modern English
English
Aotearoa
“A Māori name for New Zealand, increasingly used alongside or instead of New Zealand.”