kowhai

[ koh-wahy ]

noun

1. a New Zealand tree, Sophora tetraptera, of the legume family, having clusters of golden-yellow flowers.

kowhai

/ ˈkəʊfaɪ; ˈkəʊwaɪ /

noun

1. a small leguminous tree, Sophora tetraptera, of New Zealand and Chile, with clusters of yellow flowers

Word History and Origins

Origin of kowhai¹

First recorded in 1825–35, kowhai is from the Maori word kō(w)hai

Word History and Origins

Origin of kowhai¹

C19: from Māori

Example Sentences

Jackson came across a "piece of the world" that was also an element of Mansfield's journal – a kowhai flower between two pages in a notebook:

From Salon

The Bush Babies come out of the kowhai flowers.

From Project Gutenberg

The yellow kowhai, seen on the hillsides, shows the russet tint of autumn at the height of spring-time.

From Project Gutenberg

There are dreams in the gold of the kowhai, and when ratas are breaking   in bloom I can hear the rich murmur of voices in the deeps of the fern-shadowed gloom.

From Project Gutenberg

I remembered Anna Jackson with the kowhai flower.

From Salon