Atua

noun
(NZ) a spirit or demon
Historical Examples

When he came to Samoa the land had been divided, but he got his share, as the tail of atua.
Samoa, A Hundred Years Ago And Long Before George Turner

And atua set about to do vengeance, and atua’s wrath is sure and very dreadful.
The Holy Cross and Other Tales Eugene Field

This placed in due order, is “I ora ai tatou, he aroha no te atua,” we having been saved was a love of God.
Grammar of the New Zealand language (2nd edition) Robert Maunsell

He was awaiting the message of his atua, the guiding-breath of Uenuku.
The adventures of Kimble Bent James Cowan

Aleipata is a district at the east end of the island, and was called the head, as the titled king or head of atua resided there.
Samoa, A Hundred Years Ago And Long Before George Turner

More just and terrible would be atua’s wrath for that lie to him and that wrong to thee and to myself.
The Holy Cross and Other Tales Eugene Field

In practice, the conception of atua (or a kind of extra-natural power or powers) possesses much influence in New Zealand.
Myth, Ritual And Religion, Vol. 2 (of 2) Andrew Lang

I have heard it described by several eye-witnesses, one of whom was the atua Wera himself, and they all gave the same account.
Old New Zealand Earl of Pembroke.

When this was done it was taken possession of by the atua, whose spirit entered it.
The Evolution of Theology: An Anthropological Study Thomas Henry Huxley

The white man’s God they believe to be altogether a different being from their own atua.
John Rutherford, the White Chief George Lillie Craik