"Matariki" is a shortened version of "Ngā mata o te ariki o Tāwhirimātea", or 'the eyes of the god Tāwhirimātea', but it is sometimes incorrectly translated as 'little eyes'.Similar words do occur in most Polynesian languages, deriving from Proto-Polynesian *"mataliki", meaning 'minute, small'; the use of the term for the Pleiades cluster is also ancient and has been reconstructed to Eastern Oceanic.