Land of the Long White Cloud

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Land of the Long White Cloud

Where it comes from

Loose calque of Māori Aotearoa, from ao (“cloud, daytime, world”), tea (“white”), and roa (“long, tall”). Allegedly the first English-language mention was in the February, 1916, New Zealand School Journal (King, 2004). Probably a reference to the appearance of mountainous land when seen on the horizon from a canoe after an ocean voyage.

proper noun the Land of the Long White Cloud

poetic New Zealand.

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MLA

"Land of the Long White Cloud." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/land%20of%20the%20long%20white%20cloud. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

Land of the Long White Cloud. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/land%20of%20the%20long%20white%20cloud

Chicago

"Land of the Long White Cloud." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/land%20of%20the%20long%20white%20cloud.

BibTeX

@misc{land_of_the_long_white_cloud_2026,
  title = {Land of the Long White Cloud},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/land%20of%20the%20long%20white%20cloud},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}