Taru (i), tarutaru, n. 1. Herbage, small vegetation, grass. Ko te tarutaru ano tetehi, ara no te marohanga e te wahine, he raupo, he toetoe, he kutakuta, he raurekau (M. lxxvii).
2. A kind of moss used as a scent.
Williams Dictionary
Taru (ii), tarutaru, n. 1. Thing; used in an indefinite sense, and often not to be translated. He taru tere te haere (It moved very rapidly) (Speaking of a serpent) (W.M. x, 141). I maringi a wai te taru nei, a te toto (M. 237). E kore e ngaro, tena taku manu, e; e kore e ngaro he taru whakanui (W.M. viii, 162). He taru mate anake na roto i a au (There is nothing but sickness within me) (M. 208). Ehara i te taru te mate (Death is no light matter) (M. 251). Nga tarutaru e maha o te pukohu, o te ngahere, o te wao nui o Tane, he kiwi, he weka, he moho, he toko kokako (M. 107).
2. Sometimes with an idea of disparagement or unpleasantness involved. Taru tawhiti, influenza, a thing from abroad; so called from its foreign origin. Nga taru o Tura, a proverbial expression for grey hairs, old age. Ka tata ki a koe nga taru o Tura, ko te hina, ko te mate te whanga iho nei (M. 174).
3. Otherness. Used without the article and followed by a noun used adjectively. Ka haere, ka toro i taru kainga (He went and visited other villages).
Williams Dictionary
