maitai (Maori) comes from Maori tai, from Proto-Polynesian tai, from Proto-Oceanic tasik, from Proto-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian tasik, from Proto-Central-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian tasik, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian tasik — sea; saltwater.
Ancestry of “maitai”, step by step
maitai traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.