rangatira

/ (ˌrʌŋɡəˈtɪərə) /

NZ a Māori chief of either sex

Word Origin for rangatira

Māori

Through the creaming surges of Table Bay the Rangatira is speeding on her southward course.

Renshaw Fanning's Quest |Bertram Mitford
This happened many years before I came to the country, and when my rangatira was one of the most famous fighting men in his tribe.

Old New Zealand |Earl of Pembroke.
He belongs to the caste styled tana, or chieftains, a degree above that of rangatira, or simple gentlemen-warriors.

Brighter Britain! (Volume 1 of 2) |William Delisle Hay
The chief who claimed me was a good specimen of the Maori rangatira.

Old New Zealand |Earl of Pembroke.

Their society had definite ranks, from that of the Rangatira, the chief with a long pedigree, to the slave.

Myth, Ritual And Religion, Vol. 2 (of 2) |Andrew Lang