pounamu
Pounamu is the Māori name for New Zealand greenstone — a type of nephrite jade or bowenite found mainly on the South Island's West Coast.
Definitions
Pounamu is the Māori name for New Zealand greenstone — a type of nephrite jade or bowenite found mainly on the South Island's West Coast. In Māori culture, pounamu is deeply sacred and holds immense spiritual significance; it's carved into hei-tiki pendants, weapons, and tools that are passed down through generations as taonga (treasures). The richer the color and quality, the more prized the stone. Today pounamu is recognized globally as a symbol of New Zealand identity, and its ownership and trade is protected under Māori tribal authority.
She wore a pounamu pendant her grandmother had gifted her — a piece that had been in the family for over a century.
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(NZ) Jade, nephrite.
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- greenstone81%
(New Zealand) The pounamu, the green-hued minerals of New Zealand used by the Māori to make tools, ornaments and weapons (any of three varieties of nephrite jade or one variety of bowenite).
- hei-tiki63%
(NZ) An ornamental pendant (typically made of pounamu or greenstone) among the Māori, worn around the neck, representing a human figure traditionally connected with Tiki, the first human in Maori mythology.
- taonga57%
(NZ) In Maori culture, any treasured thing, whether tangible or intangible.
- harakeke57%
The Maori word for New Zealand flax — a tall, striking plant native to New Zealand and the Pacific Islands that has been used for centuries in Maori weaving and craft. Harakeke is deeply embedded in Maori culture, with the plant itself carrying spiritual significance: the central shoot represents the child, surrounded by parent and grandparent leaves, symbolising family and community. Today it's used freely in New Zealand English as the standard name for the plant, a sign of how Maori language is woven into everyday Kiwi life.