The Māori Dictionary app was launched last week by the Prime Minister, Henry Puna, who recalled a time when he would have been caned for speaking the native tongue at school.
But he says the language is now seeing a resurgence, with increased efforts to preserve Cook Islands Māori and get more people speaking the language.
The project was led by Anonga Tisam, which was awarded a grant to develop a database of Māori words two years ago.
