List of English words of Australian Aboriginal origin
Encyclopedia
These words of Australian Aboriginal origin include some which are almost universal in the English-speaking world, such as kangaroo and boomerang. Many such words have also become loan words in other languages beyond English, while some are restricted to Australian English
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Australian English
Australian English is the name given to the group of dialects spoken in Australia that form a major variety of the English language....
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Flora and fauna
- barramundiBarramundiThe Barramundi , also known as Asian Seabass, is a species of catadromous fish in family Latidae of order Perciformes. The native species is widely distributed in the Indo-West Pacific region from the Persian Gulf, through Southeast Asia to Papua New Guinea and Northern Australia. Known in Thai...
- bilbyBilbyBilbies are desert-dwelling marsupial omnivores; they are members of the order Peramelemorphia. Before European colonisation of Australia, there were two species. One became extinct in the 1950s; the other survives but remains endangered....
- bindi
- bogong
- boobookSouthern BoobookThe Southern Boobook , also called the Mopoke, Morepork, Ruru or Tasmanian Spotted Owl, is a small brown owl found throughout New Zealand, Tasmania, across most of mainland Australia and in Timor, southern New Guinea and nearby islands.The bird has almost 20 alternative common names, most of which...
- brigalow
- brolgaBrolgaThe Brolga , formerly known as the "Native Companion", is a bird in the crane family. The bird has also been given the name "Australian Crane", a term coined in 1865 by well-known ornithological artist John Gould in his Birds of Australia.The Brolga is a common gregarious wetland bird species in...
- budgerigarBudgerigarThe Budgerigar , also known as Common Pet Parakeet or Shell Parakeet informally nicknamed the budgie, is a small, long-tailed, seed-eating parrot, and the only species in the Australian genus Melopsittacus...
- bunyipBunyipThe bunyip, or kianpraty, is a large mythical creature from Aboriginal mythology, said to lurk in swamps, billabongs, creeks, riverbeds, and waterholes....
- coolibah
- cunjevoi
- currawongCurrawongCurrawongs are three species of medium-sized passerine birds belonging to the genus Strepera in the family Artamidae native to Australasia. These are the Grey Currawong , Pied Currawong , and Black Currawong . The common name comes from the call of the familiar Pied Currawong of eastern Australia...
- dingoDingoThe Australian Dingo or Warrigal is a free-roaming wild dog unique to the continent of Australia, mainly found in the outback. Its original ancestors are thought to have arrived with humans from southeast Asia thousands of years ago, when dogs were still relatively undomesticated and closer to...
- galahGalahThe Galah , Eolophus roseicapilla, also known as the Rose-breasted Cockatoo, Galah Cockatoo, Roseate Cockatoo or Pink and Grey, is one of the most common and widespread cockatoos, and it can be found in open country in almost all parts of mainland Australia.It is endemic on the mainland and was...
- gang-gangGang-gang CockatooThe Gang-gang Cockatoo, Callocephalon fimbriatum, is found in the cooler and wetter forests and woodlands of Australia, particularly alpine bushland. Mostly mild grey in colour with some lighter scalloping the male has a red head and crest, while the female has a small fluffy grey crest...
- geebung
- gidgee
- gilgie
- gymeaGymea LilyThe Gymea Lily is a flowering plant indigenous to the coastal areas of New South Wales near Sydney.The plant has sword-like leaves more than a meter long...
- jarrah
- joogee (yabee)
- kangarooKangarooA kangaroo is a marsupial from the family Macropodidae . In common use the term is used to describe the largest species from this family, especially those of the genus Macropus, Red Kangaroo, Antilopine Kangaroo, Eastern Grey Kangaroo and Western Grey Kangaroo. Kangaroos are endemic to the country...
- koalaKoalaThe koala is an arboreal herbivorous marsupial native to Australia, and the only extant representative of the family Phascolarctidae....
- kookaburraKookaburraKookaburras are terrestrial kingfishers native to Australia and New Guinea. They are large to very large, with a total length of . The name is a loanword from Wiradjuri guuguubarra, and is onomatopoeic of its call...
- kurrajong
- malleeMallee (habit)Mallee is the growth habit of certain eucalypt species that grow with multiple stems springing from an underground lignotuber, usually to a height of no more than ten metres...
- marriCorymbia calophyllaCorymbia calophylla is a bloodwood native to Western Australia. Common names include Marri and Port Gregory Gum, and a long standing usage has been Red Gum due to the red gum effusions often found on trunks.It is distinctive among bloodwoods for its very large buds and fruit Corymbia calophylla...
- mulga
- myall
- numbatNumbatThe numbat , also known as the banded anteater, or walpurti, is a marsupial found in Western Australia. Its diet consists almost exclusively of termites. Once widespread across southern Australia, the range is now restricted to several small colonies and it is listed as an endangered species...
- pademelonPademelonPademelons are small marsupials of the genus Thylogale. They are usually found in forests. Pademelons are the smallest of the macropods...
- potorooPotorooThe Potoroo is a kangaroo/rat like animal about the size of a rabbit. All three extant species are threatened, especially The long-footed Potoroo and Gilbert's potoroo...
- quandongQuandongQuandong, quandang or quondong, is a common name for the species Santalum acuminatum , especially its edible fruit, but may also refer to* Aceratium concinnum...
- quokkaQuokkaThe Quokka , the only member of the genus Setonix, is a small macropod about the size of a domestic cat. Like other marsupials in the macropod family , the Quokka is herbivorous and mainly nocturnal...
- quollQuollThe quoll, or native cat, is a carnivorous marsupial native to mainland Australia, New Guinea and Tasmania. It is primarily nocturnal and spends most of the day in its den. There are six species of quoll; four are found in Australia and two in New Guinea...
- taipanTaipanThe taipans are a genus of large, fast, highly venomous Australasian snakes of the elapid family.-Overview:The taipan was named by Donald Thomson after the word used by the Wik-Mungkan Aboriginal people of central Cape York Peninsula, Queensland, Australia.There are three known species: the coastal...
- wallabyWallabyA wallaby is any of about thirty species of macropod . It is an informal designation generally used for any macropod that is smaller than a kangaroo or wallaroo that has not been given some other name.-Overview:...
- wallarooWallarooA Wallaroo is any of three closely related species of moderately large macropod, intermediate in size between the kangaroos and the wallabies. The name "wallaroo" is a portmanteau of wallaby and kangaroo. The term is not generally used by Australians...
- waratahWaratahWaratah is a genus of five species of large shrubs or small trees in the Proteaceae, native to the southeastern parts of Australia...
- warrigal
- witchettyWitchetty grubThe witchetty grub is a term used in Australia for the large, white, wood-eating larvae of several moths...
- wobbegongWobbegongWobbegong is the common name given to the 12 species of carpet sharks in the family Orectolobidae. They are found in shallow temperate and tropical waters of the western Pacific Ocean and eastern Indian Ocean, chiefly around Australia and Indonesia, although one species occurs as far north as Japan...
- wombatWombatWombats are Australian marsupials; they are short-legged, muscular quadrupeds, approximately in length with a short, stubby tail. They are adaptable in their habitat tolerances, and are found in forested, mountainous, and heathland areas of south-eastern Australia, including Tasmania, as well as...
- wonga
- wonga-wonga
- yabby
Environment
- billabongBillabongBillabong is an Australian English word meaning a small lake, specifically an oxbow lake, a section of still water adjacent to a river, cut off by a change in the watercourse. Billabongs are usually formed when the path of a creek or river changes, leaving the former branch with a dead end...
- bombora (rapids–often used to describe offshore reef breaks)
- boondie (a rock; Noongar, W.A.)
- gibber (a boulder)
- gilgaiGilgaiGilgai is an Australian English word referring to a small, ephemeral lake formed from a depression in the soil surface. Gilgais are commonly a few metres across and less than 30 cm deep, however in some instances they may be several metres deep and up to 100 metres across. Gilgais are common...
- min-min lights (ground-level lights of uncertain origin sometimes seen in remote rural Australia)
- pindari (high ground)
- willy willy (dust devilDust devilA dust devil is a strong, well-formed, and relatively long-lived whirlwind, ranging from small to large . The primary vertical motion is upward...
) - boondocks mountain
Aboriginal culture
- bogey (a bath)
- boomerangBoomerangA boomerang is a flying tool with a curved shape used as a weapon or for sport.-Description:A boomerang is usually thought of as a wooden device, although historically boomerang-like devices have also been made from bones. Modern boomerangs used for sport are often made from carbon fibre-reinforced...
- bunyipBunyipThe bunyip, or kianpraty, is a large mythical creature from Aboriginal mythology, said to lurk in swamps, billabongs, creeks, riverbeds, and waterholes....
- coolamonCoolamon (vessel)A coolamon is an Indigenous Australian carrying vessel.It is a multi-purpose shallow vessel, or dish with curved sides, ranging in length from 30–70 cm, and similar in shape to a canoe....
(wooden curved bowl used to carry food or baby) - corroboreeCorroboreeA corroboree is a ceremonial meeting of Australian Aborigines. The word was coined by the European settlers of Australia in imitation of the Aboriginal word caribberie. At a corroboree Aborigines interact with the Dreamtime through dance, music and costume. Many ceremonies act out events from the...
- gunyahGunyahA Gunyah is a shelter or bush hut made of sticks and bark by Indigenous Australians for early European Settlers.- Gunyah Travel :Gunyah Ltd. is a Hong Kong registered travel company launched in late 2011. It offers short breaks in hundreds of destinations around the world delivering authentic local...
- humpyHumpyA humpy is a small, temporary shelter made from bark and tree branches, traditionally used by Australian Aborigines, with a standing tree usually used as the main support...
(a hut) - lubra (an offensive word for woman, from a Tasmanian language)
- mia-miaMia Mia (shelter)A Mia Mia is a temporary shelter made of bark, branches, leaves and grass used by some Indigenous Australians. It is also used in Australian English to mean a temporary shelter. It comes from the language Wada Wurrung.-External links:...
(a hut)
- nulla-nulla
- waddyWaddyA Waddy, nulla nulla or hunting stick is an Australian Aboriginal war club. The former name comes from the Dharuk Aborigines of Port Jackson, Sydney....
(a wooden club) - woomeraWoomera (spear-thrower)A woomera is an Australian Aboriginal spear-throwing device used for when there is a greater distance to be overcome. It is highly efficient and made of wood. Similar to an atlatl, it enables a spear to travel much further than by arm strength alone...
- wurlie - a hut
Describing words
- KooriKooriThe Koori are the indigenous Australians that traditionally occupied modern day New South Wales and Victoria....
- Aboriginal people from Victoria and New South Wales - cooeeCooeeCooee! is a shout used in Australia, usually in the Bush, to attract attention, find missing people, or indicate one's own location. When done correctly - loudly and shrilly - a call of "cooee" can carry over a considerable distance....
- Murri - Aboriginal people from Queensland
- NoongarNoongarThe Noongar are an indigenous Australian people who live in the south-west corner of Western Australia from Geraldton on the west coast to Esperance on the south coast...
- Aboriginal people from southern Western Australia - yabber - to talk
- yakka - work
- yarndi - marijuanaCannabis (drug)Cannabis, also known as marijuana among many other names, refers to any number of preparations of the Cannabis plant intended for use as a psychoactive drug or for medicinal purposes. The English term marijuana comes from the Mexican Spanish word marihuana...
Names
- Kylie (NoongarNoongarThe Noongar are an indigenous Australian people who live in the south-west corner of Western Australia from Geraldton on the west coast to Esperance on the south coast...
word for "throwing stick") - Narelle (possibly a back-formation of Sydney suburb Narellan)
Aboriginal-sounding words not of Aboriginal origin
- bandicootBandicootBandicoots are a group of about 20 species of small to medium-sized, terrestrial marsupial omnivores in the order Peramelemorphia.- Etymology :...
: (from TeluguTelugu languageTelugu is a Central Dravidian language primarily spoken in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India, where it is an official language. It is also spoken in the neighbouring states of Chattisgarh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Orissa and Tamil Nadu...
) - cockatooCockatooA cockatoo is any of the 21 species belonging to the bird family Cacatuidae. Along with the Psittacidae and the Strigopidae , they make up the parrot order Psittaciformes . Placement of the cockatoos as a separate family is fairly undisputed, although many aspects of the other living lineages of...
: (from MalayMalay languageMalay is a major language of the Austronesian family. It is the official language of Malaysia , Indonesia , Brunei and Singapore...
) - didgeridooDidgeridooThe didgeridoo is a wind instrument developed by Indigenous Australians of northern Australia around 1,500 years ago and still in widespread usage today both in Australia and around the world. It is sometimes described as a natural wooden trumpet or "drone pipe"...
: (onomatopoeic) - emuEmuThe Emu Dromaius novaehollandiae) is the largest bird native to Australia and the only extant member of the genus Dromaius. It is the second-largest extant bird in the world by height, after its ratite relative, the ostrich. There are three subspecies of Emus in Australia...
: (from Arabic, via PortuguesePortuguese languagePortuguese is a Romance language that arose in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, nowadays Galicia and Northern Portugal. The southern part of the Kingdom of Galicia became independent as the County of Portugal in 1095...
, for large bird)
- goannaGoannaGoanna is the name used to refer to any number of Australian monitor lizards of the genus Varanus, as well as to certain species from Southeast Asia.There are around 30 species of goanna, 25 of which are found in Australia...
: (corruption of iguana) - jabiruBlack-necked StorkThe Black-necked Stork is a tall long-necked wading bird in the stork family. It is a resident species across South and Southeast Asia with a disjunct population in Australia. It lives in wetland habitats to forage for a wide range of animal prey...
: (from the Spanish) - NullarborNullarbor PlainThe Nullarbor Plain is part of the area of flat, almost treeless, arid or semi-arid country of southern Australia, located on the Great Australian Bight coast with the Great Victoria Desert to its north. It is the world's largest single piece of limestone, and occupies an area of about...
: (Latin for no trees)