akeaken.
/ˈakɪˌaki/, U.S. /ˈækiˌæki/, New Zealand English /ˈʌkeˌʌke/, /ˈʌkiˌʌki/ New Zealand.
Any of several shrubs or small trees sometimes used for their hard timber, esp. the hop-bush, Dodonaea viscosa (family Sapindaceae), and any of several olearias (family Asteraceae), as the daisy-tree Olearia traversorium, endemic to the Chatham Islands. Also: the timber itself.
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the world > plants > particular plants > trees and shrubs > names applied to various species of trees or shrubs > [noun]
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1841 R. Hodgskin Narr. Eight Months Sojourn N.Z. 27 Akey akey is a heavy wood, of a dark colour.
1847 Annals of Diocese of N.Z. (S.P.C.K.) 239 Akeake (Metrosideros buxifolia), very hard and heavy, fit for cabinet work.
1851 E. Ward Jrnl. 3 June (1951) 189 The largest of the akiaki trees.
1882 W. D. Hay Brighter Britain! II. 195 The Ake-ake..gives a handsome wood for cabinet work.
1928 W. Baucke Where White Man Treads (ed. 2) 246 The Chathams grew only one durable timber, the ake-ake, which, because of its insufficient bulk, was seldom without heart-rot, shakes, and other blemishes.
1959 O. E. Middleton Stone 9 They leaned their bikes against the ake ake hedge and went up..to the back door.
2002 Christchurch Press (N.Z.) (Nexis) 4 Apr. 14 Akeake could be clipped for hedging, was tolerant of wind and drought, but was frost sensitive, and could suffer root rot.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2012; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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