List of English words of Australian Aboriginal origin

This is a list of English words derived from Australian Aboriginal languages. Some are restricted to Australian English as a whole or to certain regions of the country. Others, such as kangaroo and boomerang, have become widely used in other varieties of English, and some have been borrowed into other languages beyond English.

Flora and fauna

currawong (definition)
Probably from Yagara garrawaŋ, ultimately onomatopoeic.[2]
dingo (definition)
From Dharug dingu, "tame/domesticated dog".[3]
galah (definition)
From Gamilaraay gilaa, "galah".
gang-gang (definition)
Possibly from Wiradjuri gaŋ-gaŋ, likely an onomatopoeic name.[4]
numbat (definition)
From Noongar nhumbad, "numbat".
pademelon (definition)
From Dharug badimaliyan, "pademelon".
potoroo (definition)
From Dharug buduru, "potoroo".[6]
quandong (definition)
From Wiradjuri guwandhang, "quandong".
quokka (definition)
From Noongar kwaka, "quokka".
quoll (definition)
From the earlier form je-quoll, ultimately from Guugu Yimidhirr dhigul, "native cat".
taipan (definition)
From Wik-Mungkan thaypan, "Rainbow Serpent, taipan".
wallaby (definition)
From Dharug wollabi, "wallaby, rock-wallaby".[3]
wallaroo (definition)
From Dharug wularu, "wallaroo".[6]
waratah (definition)
From Dharug warada, "waratah".[7]
warrigal (definition)
From Dharug wuragal, "wild/undomesticated dog".
witchetty (definition)
Possibly from Arabana witjuti, "witchetty bush".
wobbegong (definition)
From Dharug wabigang, "wobbegong" (cf. Dharawal dhabigang).
wombat (definition)
From Dharug wumbat, "wombat".[6]
wonga-wonga (definition)
From Dharug wungawunga, "wonga pigeon".
yabby (definition)
From Wemba Wemba yabij, "yabby".

Environment

billabong (definition)
From Wiradjuri bilabang, likely a compound of bila, "river", and bong or bung, "dead".
  • bombora (rapids–often used to describe offshore reef breaks)
  • boondie (hardened clump of sand; Noongar, W.A.[8])
  • gilgai
  • lerp (crystallized honeydew produced by larvae of psyllid bugs, gathered as food)
  • min-min lights (ground-level lights of uncertain origin sometimes seen in remote rural Australia)
  • willy willy (dust devil)

Aboriginal culture

Describing words

  • Koori - Aboriginal people from Victoria and New South Wales
  • cooee
  • Nunga - Aboriginal people from South Australia
  • Murri - Aboriginal people from Queensland
  • Noongar - Aboriginal people from southern Western Australia
  • Palawa - Aboriginal people from Tasmania
  • yarndi (slang term for marijuana)[11]

Place names

Names

English words often falsely assumed to be of Australian Aboriginal origin

References

Slang - Australian Government Website

  1. 1 2 "Learn English: Borrowed Indigenous Australian words". ABC Education. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 27 July 2018. Retrieved 3 April 2019.
  2. ↑ Dixon, Robert Malcolm Ward (1992). Australian Aboriginal Words in English. Oxford University Press. p. 90. ISBN 0-19-553394-1.
  3. 1 2 Troy (1994), p. 47.
  4. ↑ Fraser, Ian; Gray, Jeannie (2013). Australian Bird Names. CSIRO Publishing. p. 127. ISBN 9780643104709.
  5. ↑ "Australian slang - a story of Australian English". Government of Australia. Archived from the original on 7 March 2016. Retrieved 30 April 2017.
  6. 1 2 3 Troy (1994), p. 49.
  7. ↑ Troy (1994), p. 59.
  8. ↑ "The Perth Files: Bull ants, 'boondies', bogans and bore water". 13 April 2006.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Edward Ellis Morris (1896). Morris's Dictionary of Australian Words.
  10. ↑ "Learn English: Borrowed Indigenous Australian words". ABC Education. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 27 July 2018. Retrieved 3 April 2019.
  11. ↑ "Yarndi within the community". Australian Drug Foundation. Retrieved 14 January 2019.
  12. ↑ Satpathy, Sumanyu (30 September 2017). "A tea party with Topiwalla and Alice". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 19 June 2019.
  13. ↑ Wassilieff, Maggy. "Cockabully". Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Retrieved 24 September 2021.
  14. ↑ J. Simpson; E. Weiner, eds. (1989). "cockatoo". Oxford English Dictionary (2nd ed.). Oxford: Clarendon Press. ISBN 978-0-19-861186-8.
  15. ↑ Macquarie Dictionary (2nd ed.). Macquarie University. 1991. p. 1220. ISBN 0-949757-63-2.

Bibliography

  • Troy, Jakelin (1994). The Sydney Language (PDF). Canberra. p. 47. ISBN 0646110152.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)

Further reading

Wiktionary logo
For a list of words relating to with Australian Aboriginal language origins, see the Australian Aboriginal derivations category of words in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Australian Aboriginal Words in English: their origin and meaning, Dixon, R.M.W., Moore, Bruce, Ramson, W.S., and Thomas, Mandy (2006), Oxford University Press, Melbourne, VIC, Australia. ISBN 9780195540734

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