hapu
UK/ˈhɑːpuː/
More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations
New Zealand/ˈhʌːpuː/
hapu noun: a subtribe of an iwi or Maori tribe; the basic political unit within Māori society; a subtribe or extended family.
Noun
hapu (plural hapus or hapu)
- A subtribe of an iwi or Maori tribe; the basic political unit within Māori society; a subtribe or extended family.
- “I don't know whose family it belongs in. I made enquiries round all my relations, and most Ngai Tahu hapu.”1983, Keri Hulme, The Bone People, Penguin, published 1986, page 253
- Sometimes such migrations led nascent hapū to districts well away from those of the tribe's previous habitation.2003, Michael King, The Penguin History of Aotearoa New Zealand, Penguin, published 2023, page 67
Forms of hapu
| plural | hapus |
|---|---|
| plural | hapu |
| alternative form | hapū |
Origin of hapu
Borrowed from Māori hapū.
Questions about hapu
- What does hapu mean?
- Hapu means a subtribe of an iwi or Maori tribe; the basic political unit within Māori society; a subtribe or extended family.
- What part of speech is hapu?
- Hapu is a noun.
- How do you pronounce hapu?
- Hapu is pronounced /ˈhʌːpuː/ (New Zealand).
- What is the plural of hapu?
- The plural of hapu is hapus.
Words near hapu in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: hapu (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Cite this entry: “hapu.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/hapu. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.