Standard Lemma guide

kehua

noun · 1 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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1

noun

Meaning 1

A ghost; an evil spirit.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: New-Zealand

Examples

  • 1924, Elsdon Best, Māori Religion and Mythology: being an account of the cosmogony, anthropogeny, religious beliefs and rites, magic and folk lore of the Māori folk of New Zealand, Part 2, 2005, Te Papa Press, page 42, The other aspect of the "etheric double" of the theosophist, that is the wraith or apparitional spirit seen after the death of the body, is the kehua of the Maori.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Borrowed from Māori kēhua.