kea

¹

[ key-uh, kee-uh ]

noun

1. a large, greenish New Zealand parrot, Nestor notabilis.

Kea

²

[ key-ah, kee-uh ]

noun

1. Keos.

Kéa

¹

/ ˈkɛa /

noun

1. transliteration of the Modern Greek name for Keos

Kea

²

noun

1. (in New Zealand) a member of the junior branch of the Scouts

kea

³

/ ˈkeɪə /

noun

1. a large New Zealand parrot, Nestor notabilis, with brownish-green plumage

Word History and Origins

Origin of kea¹

Borrowed into English from Maori around 1860–65

Word History and Origins

Origin of kea¹

from kea

Origin of kea²

C19: from Māori, imitative of its call

Example Sentences

Caltech has retired a telescope atop the summit of Hawaii’s Mauna Kea following a cultural sea change in how people view land development on revered landmarks.

From Los Angeles Times

Kanaka elders have insisted that no more telescopes be built on Mauna Kea, which Native Hawaiians consider to be ancestral and sacred.

From Salon

Native Hawaiians have strongly objected to adding an enormous telescope to the many on Manua Kea, the TMT’s preferred site, regarding it as a further desecration of a sacred place.

From Science Magazine

The two projects are the Giant Magellan Telescope at Las Campanas in Chile and the Thirty Meter Telescope, possibly destined for Mauna Kea on the island of Hawaii, also known as the Big Island.

From New York Times

A camera at the Mauna Kea Observatory in Hawaii has captured an object as it burned up on re-entering Earth's atmosphere on 8 February.

From BBC