Austral English / A dictionary of Australasian words, phrases and usages with those aboriginal-Australian and Maori words which have become incorporated in the language, and the commoner scientific words that have had their origin in Australasia

by Edward Ellis Morris

The Rev. W. Colenso says, in his pamphlet on `Nomenclature' (1883), p. 5:

"Taepo means to visit or come by night,—a night visitant,—a spectral thing seen in dreams,—a fancied and feared thing, or hobgoblin, of the night or darkness; and this the settlers have construed to mean the Devil!—and of course their own orthodox one."

<i>Taipo</i> or <i>taepo</i> is also a slang term for a surveyor's theodolite among the Maoris, because it is the "land-stealing devil."

1848. Rev. R. Taylor, `Leaf from the Natural History of New Zealand,' p. 43:

"Taipo, female dreamer; a prophetess; an evil spirit."

1855. Rev. R. Taylor, `Te Ika a Maui,' p. 49:

"There is the <i>Taringa-here</i>, a being with a face like a cat; and likewise another, called a <i>Taipo</i>, who comes in the night, sits on the tops of houses, and converses with the inmates, but if a woman presumes to open her mouth, it immediately disappears."

1878. B. Wells, `History of Taranaki,' p. 3:

"The similarity in sound and meaning of the Egyptian word <i>typhon</i> with that of the Maori <i>taipo</i>, both being the name of the Spirit of Evil, is also not a little remarkable."

[Ingenious, but worthless.]