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australian aborigine

 - 3 dictionary results

ab⋅o⋅rig⋅i⋅ne

  [ab-uh-rij-uh-nee]
–noun
1. one of the original or earliest known inhabitants of a country or region.
2. (initial capital letter) Also, Aboriginal. Also called Australian Aborigine. a member of the dark-skinned people who were the earliest inhabitants of Australia.
3. aborigines, the original, native fauna or flora of a region.
Origin:
1540–50; by back formation from aborigines < L Aborīginēs a race of pre-Roman inhabitants of Italy, prob. alter. of an earlier ethnonym by assoc. with ab origine
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Word Origin & History

aborigine 
1858, mistaken singular of aborigines (1547, the correct singular is aboriginal), from L. Aborigines "the first inhabitants" (especially of Latium), possibly a tribal name, or from ab origine, lit. "from the beginning." Extended 1789 to natives of other countries which Europeans have colonized. Australian slang shortening Abo attested from 1922.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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