taonga

== English == === Etymology === Borrowed from Māori. === Noun === taonga (plural taonga or taongas) (New Zealand) In Maori culture, any treasured thing, whether tangible or intangible. == Māori == === Etymology === From Proto-Central Eastern Polynesian *taqoŋa "treasured possession". Cognate with Hawaiian kaona (“hidden meaning”), Tahitian taoʻa, Samoan tōga “special gifts or offerings” and Tongan tōʻonga “custom, habit, conduct, behaviour, characteristic; rite, ceremony”. === Noun === taonga anything treasured or highly prized treasure property === References === === Further reading === Williams, Herbert William (1917), “taonga”, in A Dictionary of the Maori Language, page 445 “taonga” in John C. Moorfield, Te Aka: Maori–English, English–Maori Dictionary and Index, 3rd edition, Longman/Pearson Education New Zealand, 2011, →ISBN.