wharekai (Maori) comes from Maori whare, from Proto-Polynesian fale, from Proto-Oceanic pale, from Proto-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian balay, from Proto-Central-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian balay, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian balay, from Proto-Austronesian balay — house; hall.
Ancestry of “wharekai”, step by step
wharekai traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.