Moa
/ˈmoʊ.ə/noun
A large, extinct, flightless bird native to New Zealand.
Did you know?Some moa species stood over 3 metres tall, and Māori traditions preserved knowledge of them before their extinction in the fifteenth century.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Polynesian
Proto-Polynesian
*moa
“Fowl or chicken; a reconstructed ancestral Polynesian term”
c. 1300
Māori
moa
“A large, flightless bird of New Zealand”
15th Century
Māori
moa
“The extinct giant bird hunted by early Māori communities”
1830s
English
moa
“The Māori name adopted into English for the extinct New Zealand bird”
19th Century
Scientific English
Dinornithiformes
“The taxonomic group containing the extinct moa species”
Modern English
English
moa
“Any of several extinct, giant, flightless birds formerly native to New Zealand”
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