ngarara

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Māori ngārara (“a reptile”)

Noun

ngarara (plural ngararas)

  1. (New Zealand) Among the Maori, any of various real and mythological creatures of the lizard or crocodile type.
    • 1862, The Westminster Review (volume 77, page 314)
      Ngararas, the dragons of the medieval Maori, once spread general terror and desolation.
    • 1875, Royal Society of New Zealand, Transactions and Proceedings (volume 7, page 296)
      Unu ngarara or ngarara burrows were frequently met with on the plains. […] The ngarara was darker in colour than the ruatara. They varied in size from two to three feet in length, and ten to twenty inches in girth; along the back from the nape of the neck to the tail was a serrated crest.
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