Word.ws English Dictionary

koha

Syllables: ko·ha/ˈkəʊhə/US/ˈkoʊhə/

koha noun: a Māori tradition of reciprocal giving of gifts.

Noun (1)

koha (countable and uncountable, plural kohas or koha)

  1. (New Zealand) A Māori tradition of reciprocal giving of gifts.
    • Koha are commonly given at the conclusion of a powhiri (a Maori welcome onto a marae (meeting place)). [Mary Anne] Salmond explains that "great pride is taken in being able to present a generous gift to the hosts." Koha that are given at the conclusion of a powhiri are not payments for goods or...2001, Kevin Holmes, “Gifts and Windfall Gains”, in The Concept of Income: A Multi-disciplinary Analysis (Academic Council Doctoral Series; 1), Amsterdam: IBFD Publications, →ISBN, page 427
    • The speaker then sits down and a person from the marae side walks over to collect the koha and acknowledge it.2003, Hirini Moko Mead, “Te Takoha: Gift Giving”, in Tikanga Māori: Living by Māori Values, Wellington: Huia Publishers, →ISBN, page 188
  2. (New Zealand, broadly) A voluntary donation given for a service that has been provided.
    • There was considerable opposition to any advance for this mill being charged as against "Koha." […] In respect to the Turakirae Block, Manihera and Wi Kingi claimed "Koha" for Taita, Mangaroa, and Pakuratahi, stating that the purchase extended over those lands, and even to the source of a stream...[1873 December 31, “Wairarapa Five Per Cents., (Report on the Payment of Balances on the). Presented to both Houses of the General Assembly by Command of His Excellency. [No. 1. Major Heaphy to the...
    • Unfortunately, some of our young people have come to the conclusion that koha as a system is out of date. Several times I have heard it said by young people that they are going to a hui but, not to worry, the Government will fund it. […] I believe that we ought to be attending hui, and ought to...1986 April 29, Peter Tapsell, “Te Pire Mo Te Reo Maori—Maori Language Bill”, in Parliamentary Debates (Hansard): Second Session, Forty-first Parliament, 1986: House of Representatives, volume 470...

Noun (2)

koha (plural kohas)

  1. (Sri-Lanka) The koel (Eudynamys), a genus of cuckoos from Asia, Australia, and the Pacific with a distinctive loud call; specifically, the Asian koel (Eudynamys scolopaceus).
    • Our species, the Koel or Koha also belongs to this sub-family of Cuculinae. The male cuckoo is dark in colour, while its female is speckled (called the Gomara Koha).1997, Gamini de S. G. Punchihewa, Vignettes of Far Off Things: Introducing the History, Tank Civilization, Jungle Lore, Fauna, & Flora and Adventure of the Walawe Basin, Nugegoda, Colombo, Sri Lanka...
    • The sound of the koha is associated with the advent of the Sinhala and Tamil new year; the bird is often called the Avurudu koha—the New Year Cuckoo. The koha is an early bird, and its call is strident, plaintive, and easy to imitate. The legend has it that the koha never makes a nest of its own....2006, Swarna Wickremeratne, “Festival of New Beginnings: The New Year”, in Buddha in Sri Lanka: Remembered Yesterdays, Albany, N.Y.: State University of New York Press, →ISBN, pages 31–32

Examples of koha in a sentence

  • Mana Party leader Hone Harawira is standing behind his party's by-election candidate saying Pakeha don't understand koha if they have a problem with him keeping the $12,000 raised for his surgery.2013 June 19, Kate Chapman, “Pakeha don’t get koha”, in The Press West Coast:
  • In the old days the koha would be food to help with the running of the event, like baskets of kumara, [Michael] Skerrett said.2015 November 11, Dave Nicoll, “The etiquette of koha – it’s all about respect”, in The Southland Times (reproduced on Stuff.co.nz):
  • Unfortunately, some of our young people have come to the conclusion that koha as a system is out of date.1986 April 29, Peter Tapsell, “Te Pire Mo Te Reo Maori—Maori Language Bill”, in Parliamentary Debates (Hansard): Second Session...
  • In and Out of Context is a free/koha event and for everyone!2012 December, “In and Out of Context: A Street Light Circus”, in Scoop: Independent News:

Forms of koha

pluralkohas
pluralkoha

Origin of koha

Borrowed from Māori koha (“regard, respect; gift, present”).

Borrowed from Sinhalese කොහා (kohā, “cuckoo”), probably from Sinhalese කෝ + හඩ (kō + haḍa, “cuckoo”) or ultimately as the abbreviation of the word tells, the imitation of the chirping and trilling sound.

Questions about koha

What does koha mean?
Koha means a Māori tradition of reciprocal giving of gifts.
How do you use koha in a sentence?
Mana Party leader Hone Harawira is standing behind his party's by-election candidate saying Pakeha don't understand koha if they have a problem with him keeping the $12,000 raised for his surgery.
What part of speech is koha?
Koha is a noun.
How do you pronounce koha?
Koha is pronounced /ˈkəʊhə/ (UK).
What is the plural of koha?
The plural of koha is kohas.

Words near koha in the dictionary

  1. Koh
  2. Koh Kong
  3. Koh Samui
  4. Koh-i-Noor
  5. Koh-i-Noors
  6. koha
  7. kohai
  8. kohais
  9. Kohala
  10. Kohan
  11. kohanga reo

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: koha (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.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-koha.wav.

Cite this entry: “koha.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/koha. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.