Maire

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. Eugenia Maire, a small New Zealand tree of the myrtle family, with white bark and four-angled branches, oblong-lanceolate, acuminate leaves, and white flowers having a tuft of many stamens. The fruit is a red berry crowned by the thickened rim of the calyx. It is distinguished from the other maires of New Zealand as maire-Tawhiki, or ‘myrtle of the god Tawhiki’ (the Tafa'i of Samoan myths and Kahai of the ancient Hawaiians).
2. n. Mida salicifolia, a small New Zealand tree of the sandalwood family, having variable, myrtle-like or willow-like leaves and short axillary cymes of small green flowers.
3. n. One of several species of Olea indigenous to New Zealand:
4. n. The black maire, O. Cunninghamii, a lofty tree with white limbs, long coriaceous leaves, racemes of unisexual flowers, and fruit in the form of drupe containing a bony nut. The wood is dense, hard, and durable.
5. n. The white maire, O. lanceolata, a smaller and less robust tree, yielding the New Zealand boxwood (which see, under boxwood).
6. n. The narrow-leaved maire, O. montana, a large bushy tree with leathery linear leaves and racemes of minute flowers.
7. n. The broad-leaved maire, O. apetala, which yields the ironwood of Norfolk Island.
8. n. In Tahiti, Gynopogon stellatus, a plant with ternate, myrtle-like leaves. Compare maile.

Wiktionary

1. n. A female given name, anglicisation of Irish Máire ("Mary").
2. n. A surname.