Dictionary

kumara en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˈkuːməɹə/
• [ˈkʰʉːm(ə)ɹʷɐ] (New-Zealand)
• [ˈkʰʉːmɐɾɐ] (literary)

Etymology

Borrowed from Māori kūmara.

Meanings

1. (New-Zealand) The sweet potato.
   • “And once, a woman threw a piece of cooked kumara at me and I ducked, and laughed…” 1983, Keri Hulme, The Bone People, Penguin, published 1986, page 368:
   • They introduced the gourd, taro and kumara from the Polynesian Islands to the New Zealanders. 1971, Gwen White, Antique Toys And Their Background, page 98:
   • In contrast to everything else that these migrant people had lugged from island to island, the kūmara had not come from the west. 2003, Michael King, The Penguin History of Aotearoa New Zealand, Penguin, published 2023, page 21:

Forms

Deriveds

suck the kumara