tena koutou

British

/ ˈtənɑː ˈkɒuːtɒuː /

interjection

a Māori greeting to two or more people

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of tena koutou

Māori

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Tena koutou; or, Tenara ko koutou—The Maori form of salutation, equivalent to our "How do you do?"

From Project Gutenberg

I stepped into the circle formed by my new friends, and had just commenced a tena koutou, when a breeze of wind came sighing along the hill-top.

From Project Gutenberg

I stepped into the circle formed by my new friends, and had just commenced a tena koutou, when a breeze of wind came sighing along the hill-top; my friend nodded again, and his cloak blew to one side.

From Project Gutenberg

Tena koutou; or Tenara ko koutou—The Maori form of salutation, equivalent to our "How do you do?"

From Project Gutenberg

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023