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
Environment
- billabong
- bombora (rapidsâÂÂoften used to describe offshore reef breaks)
- (hardened clump of sand; Noongar, W.A.)
- 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)
Place names
Names
English words often falsely assumed to be of Australian Aboriginal origin
References
Further reading
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