Where does “iwi” come from?

Iwi comes from Māori iwi, from Proto-Oceanic suʀi, though the original meaning is not documented.

iwi (English): A Maori tribe

Definitions

  1. A Maori tribe

Ancestry of “iwi”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Maoriiwiextended kinship group, tribe, nation, people,...
2Proto-Polynesian*huithorn
3Proto-Oceanicsuʀithorn, splinter, fish bone
4Proto-Central-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian*zuʀi—
5Proto-Malayo-Polynesianduʀithorn
6Proto-Austronesianduʀithorn
Every word from Proto-Austronesian duʀi →Every word from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian duʀi →Every word from Proto-Central-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian *zuʀi →