Words from the land of the long white cloud have officially made their way into the dictionary, with the likes of Kiwi favourites 'chur' and 'ae' under the spotlight.
The latest edition of the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) is featuring a batch of new words, including 47 New Zealand English words.
Entries included chur (an interjection similar to 'cheers'), after-ball (a noun referring to an event, especially a party, that takes place after a ball) and Kiwiness (a noun signifying the quality or fact of being from New Zealand).
Te reo Māori was also heavily featured in the latest updates such as iwi, moko kauae, pepeha, e hoa and powhiri.
The oldest word of Māori origin in this update is whenua (land or a piece of land, especially a Māori person's native land) which can be traced back to the 18th century, being first attested in Captian James Cook's journal in an entry dated January 31, 1770.
"The Māori renaissance that began in the 1970s has seen Māori language and culture moving from the margins to the centre of national life in New Zealand, and this is reflected in the substantial number of Māori words that have become part of the vocabulary of both Māori and Pākehā (non-Māori) speakers of English, several of which are now making it into the OED for the first time," the OED said.
OED editors used novels, newspapers and even social media to find examples of the words and demonstrate their usage in English.
We may see more Māori words in future additions with the OED committing to recording more Māori contributions to the lexicon as it continues to monitor the evolution of English in this part of the world.
Here's the full list:
ae
after-ball
bitzer
chur,
droppie
e hoa
e hoa ma
enrol | enroll
flat stick
hooning
hoonish
iwi
kaitiaki
kaumatua
kaupapa
kehua
Kiwiness
koha
korero
kuia
maunga
moko kauae
Pai Marire
pepeha
powhiri
rahui
rangatahi
rangatiratanga
reo
rohe
standing place
stuffed
Tagata Pasifika
taihoa
tamaiti
tamariki
tatau
tino rangatiratanga
tuakana
turangawaewae
wahine toa
wairua
waka ama
whanau
wharekai
wharenui
whenua
