Dictionary of the Maori Language

Reprint 2006.

The first edition of A Dictionary of the New Zealand Language, the work of William Williams, Archdeacon (and later Bishop) of Waiapu, appeared in 1852 - more than thirty years before the publication of the first part of the Oxford English Dictionary. Ever since then students of Māori language have found Williams' dictionary indispensable. The third (1871) and fourth (1892) editions were revised by William Leonard, son of William. He, too, was Archdeacon (and later Bishop) of Waiapu. The fifth, much-enlarged edition, was edited by Herbert, grandson of Williams, and, inevitably it seems, Bishop of Waiapu.

Incorporating material provided by such scholars as Eldson Best, A.S. Atkinson, Edward Tregear, Williams Colenso and the Rev. Mohi Turei, and drawing examples largely from the writings of Maori authorities including Te Rangikaheke, Te Rangihaeata, Te Whatahoro and others, the fifth edition was virtually a new work, and an enduring tribute to the linguistic scholarship of the Williams' lineage.

The sixth edition of the dictionary broke with tradition, being revised by a largely Māori committee chaired by J.M. McEwen and later, M. Rotohiko Jones. Its membership, which included Sir Apirana Ngata, Canons Paora Temuera and Te Anga Kaa, Rangiwhakaata Halbert, Rangi Royal and Eru Pou, reads like a who's who of Maoridom of the day. The sixth edition included a complete revision of the scientific nomenclature of natural species by A. Morris Jones.

The seventh edition was revised by a committee consisting of the late Dr. Pei te Hurinui Jones (chairman) and Bruce Biggs, both member of the original revision committee, the late Mrs Beth Ranapia of the Department of Education and Mrs Merimeri Penfold of the Māori Studies Section of the Anthropology Department, University of Auckland.