# hapua

> English word · Noun

## Definitions
1. a river-mouth lagoon, chiefly in New Zealand, formed at the interface between a braided river and a mixed sand and gravel beach deposited and extended by longshore drift.

## Etymology
Borrowed from Māori hāpua (“be hollow, depressed like a valley, be hollowed out, scooped out”).

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/hapua