"Kahikomako, a small, very graceful tree, with white sweet-smelling flowers; height twenty to thirty feet. Wood used by the Maoris for kindling fires by friction."
<hw>Kai</hw>, <i>n</i>. Maori word for <i>food</i>; used also in the South Sea islands. <i>Kai-kai</i> is an English adaptation for feasting.
1807. J. Savage, `Some Account of New Zealand,' Vocab. p. 75:
"Kiki . . . food." [The <i>i</i> has the English not the
Italian sound.]
1820. `Grammar and Vocabulary of Language of New Zealand' (Church Missionary Society), p. 157:
"Kai, <i>s</i>. victuals, support, etc.; <i>a</i>. eatable."
1845. E. J. Wakefield, `Adventures in New Zealand,' vol. i. p. 29:
"He explained to us that every one would cry very much, and then there would be very much kai-kai or feasting."
1855. Rev. R. Taylor, `Te Ika a Maui,' p. 95:
"Kai, the general word for food, is not used at Rotorua, because it was the name of a great chief, and the word tami has been substituted for it."