# motu
## English
### Etymology

From a descendant of Proto-Polynesian *motu.

### Pronunciation

* This entry needs pronunciation information. If you are familiar with the IPA or enPR then please add some!

### Noun

motu (plural motus)
* A reef islet formed by broken coral and sand, surrounding an atoll.

### See also

* ex proprio motu
* mero motu
* motu proprio
* suo motu

### Anagrams

* MOUT, Muto, mout, toum

## Finnish
### Etymology

From Motu [Term?].

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈmotu/, [ˈmo̞t̪u]
* Rhymes: -otu
* Syllabification: mo‧tu

### Noun

motu
* Motu (language)

#### Declension

Possessive forms of motu (Kotus type 1/valo, no gradation) :

#### Derived terms
##### compounds

* hiri-motu

### Anagrams

* tomu

## Isubu
### Etymology

From Proto-Bantu *mʊ̀ntʊ̀.

### Noun

motu m (plural batu)
* a man, an adult male

### References

* Joseph Merrick, Alfred Saker, A Grammar of the Isubu Tongue (1852)

## Latin
### Noun

mōtū m
* ablative singular of mōtus (“movement, motion”)

## Maori
### Etymology

From Proto-Polynesian *motu (compare with Hawaiian moku) from Proto-Oceanic *motus (“broken off, detached”) (compare with Fijian yamotu), possibly from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *ma-utus.

### Noun

motu
* island, country, land, nation, clump of trees, ship; anything separated or isolated
* cut, wound

### Verb

motu
* to sever, cut, cut off, set free, separate
* to be separated, moved to a distance - especially in the phrase motu ki te ara
* to be set free, escape
* (stative) to be cut, severed

### See also

* moutere
* whenua (“land”)

### References

* ↑ Tregear, Edward (1891) Maori-Polynesian Comparative Dictionary‎, Wellington, New Zealand: Lyon and Blair, pages 254-5
* ↑ Ross Clark and Simon J. Greenhill, editors (2011), “motu.b”, in POLLEX-Online: The Polynesian Lexicon Project Online

### Further reading

* “motu” in John C. Moorfield, Te Aka: Maori–English, English–Maori Dictionary and Index, 3rd edition, Longman/Pearson Education New Zealand, 2011, →ISBN.

## Niuean
### Etymology

From Proto-Polynesian *motu.

### Noun

motu
* island

## Rapa Nui
### Etymology

From Proto-Polynesian *motu (compare with Maori motu, Hawaiian moku) from Proto-Oceanic *motus (“broken off, detached”) (compare with Fijian yamotu), possibly from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *ma-utus.

### Noun

motu
* island (usually a small islet)

### References

* ↑ Ross Clark and Simon J. Greenhill, editors (2011), “motu.b”, in POLLEX-Online: The Polynesian Lexicon Project Online

## Tahitian
### Etymology

From Proto-Polynesian *motu (compare with Maori motu, Hawaiian moku) from Proto-Oceanic *motus (“broken off, detached”) (compare with Fijian yamotu), possibly from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *ma-utus.

### Noun

motu
* island

### References

* ↑ Ross Clark and Simon J. Greenhill, editors (2011), “motu.b”, in POLLEX-Online: The Polynesian Lexicon Project Online

## Tongan
### Etymology

From Proto-Polynesian *motu (compare with Maori motu, Hawaiian moku) from Proto-Oceanic *motus (“broken off, detached”) (compare with Fijian yamotu), possibly from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *ma-utus.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /mo.tu/

### Noun

motu
* island

#### Related terms

* otu

### References

* ↑ Ross Clark and Simon J. Greenhill, editors (2011), “motu.b”, in POLLEX-Online: The Polynesian Lexicon Project Online