hei-tiki

== English == === Alternative forms === heitiki, hei tiki === Etymology === Borrowed from Māori heitiki, from hei (“to tie around the neck; scarf, pendant”) + tiki (“carving of a human figure”). === Pronunciation === (New Zealand) IPA(key): /ˌhæeˈtiki/ (UK) IPA(key): /ˌheɪˈtɪki/ === Noun === hei-tiki (plural hei-tiki or hei-tikis) (New Zealand) 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. [from 19th c.]