Maire

Nestegis spp. (Oleaceae)

Alternative names: Pūwhakahoro, also Mairangi (local origin); Pau, Nestegis cunninghamii, from Proto-Polynesian *Pau, a hardwood tree.

ETYMOLOGY:
From Proto Polynesian *Maile Alyxia stellata [and other Alyxia spp.] (Apocynaceae)

COGNATE WORDS IN SOME OTHER POLYNESIAN LANGUAGES
Tongan, Niuean: Maile (Alyxia stellata, Apocynaceae).
Tahitian: Maire (Alyxia stellata); also the fragrant fern Polypodium pustulatum, Polypodiaceae.
Hawaiian: Maile (Alyxia olivaeformis).
Marquesan: Mei'e (Alyxia sp.).
Tuamotuan: Maire hau (Phymatosorus grossus, "Maile-scented fern", Polypodiaceae); Monoimaire (Alyxia scandens, Apocynaceae).
Rarotongan: Maire (Alyxia stellata); also a general name for ferns, applied especially to Phymatosorus scolopendria, "Serpent Fern" (Polypodiaceae).

RELATED MĀORI PLANT NAMES
Mairehau (Leionema nudum, Rutaceae)
Note: See the other linked pages (highlighted at the top of this page) for more information about the ancestral names, their modern descendents, and the plants they denote.

Some of the plants known as maire in Aotearoa are called "olives" in English, and others, including the tropical maile have the Latin or Greek word for "olive" woven into their botanical names. This convergence and divergence of the Polynesian term maire or maile and the Indo-European terms for "olive" is discussed in some detail on the page for Ōriwa, the word acquired by Māori from English for "olive".

NOTE - THIS PROTO-PAGE IS STILL UNDER CONSTRUCTION!

There are seven species of trees from four different plant families having olive-shaped fruit and / or notably fragrant leaves, flowers or fruit which share the name maire in Aotearoa. Many of these are described briefy and discussed on the page for Ōriwa (the European olive in its Māori guise).

These are:

Leonema nudum (Rutaceae): Maire hau, māireire
Mida salicifolia (Nanodeaceae): Maire, Maire taiki
Nestegis species generally (Oleaceae), and N. cunninghamii and N. lanceolata primarily: Maire
Nestegis cunninghamii: Maire raunui, also Pau
Nestegis lanceolata Maire raunui, (also): Maire rauriki (!)
Nestegis montana: Maire kōtae, maire rōroro, maire rauriki
Syzygium maire (Myrtaceae): Maire tawake, Maire tawhake