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waka

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waka¹

Where it comes from

Borrowed from Japanese 和歌 (waka), from Middle Chinese 和 (ɣwa), a gloss for 倭 (ʔwa, “Japan”) + 歌 (ka, “song”).

noun wakas · waka

  1. A kind of classical Japanese poem. “Hey, look. There's one of those Jap waka poems on the back of this cigarette package.”

waka²

  • /ˈwʌkʌ/ New Zealand
  • /ˈwʌkə/ New Zealand
  • /ˈwakə/ UK

Rhymes with -ɒkə, -ʌkə

Where it comes from

Borrowed from Māori waka.

noun wakas · waka

  1. New Zealand A Maori canoe.
  2. New Zealand A broad Maori community consisting of numerous Maori tribes, all sharing common ancestors thought to have come to New Zealand in a particular canoe. (A waka is divided into several iwi.) On occasion this orientation would extend to wider tribal units […] or even to waka federations such as Tainui, Te Arawa or Mataatua.

Waka³

proper noun

  1. A female given name from Japanese.

Translations

Every language

noun a kind of classical Japanese poem

한국어와카 waka, 화가 hwaga
日本語和歌 waka
中文和歌 hégē
Русскийва́ка váka

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Cite this
MLA

"waka." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/waka. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

waka. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/waka

Chicago

"waka." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/waka.

BibTeX
@misc{waka_2026,
  title = {waka},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/waka},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}