Marae
/ˈmaːɾae̯/noun
A communal meeting place or sacred courtyard in Māori and other Polynesian cultures.
Did you know?In Māori tradition, a marae is often treated as a living ancestral space, with the meeting house symbolically representing an ancestor’s body.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Polynesian
Proto-Polynesian
*malaqe
“An open or cleared place”
Early Polynesian
Proto-Eastern Polynesian
*marae
“A cleared ceremonial area or sacred precinct”
Pre-European Māori
Māori
marae
“A meeting ground or place of ceremony”
18th–19th Century
Tahitian and other Polynesian languages
marae
“A temple platform or sacred ceremonial enclosure”
20th Century
English
marae
“A Māori communal meeting place, especially one including a wharenui, or meeting house”