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Aboriginal. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
Aboriginal, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
Aboriginal in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
Aboriginal you have here. The definition of the word
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English
Alternative forms
Etymology
From aborigine + -al, aborigine being from Latin ab origine (“from the beginning”).
Pronunciation
- (UK) IPA(key): /ˌæb.əˈɹɪd͡ʒ.ɪ.nəl/
- (US) IPA(key): /ˌæb.əˈɹɪd͡ʒ.n̩.l̩/, /ˌæb.əˈɹɪd͡ʒ.ɪn.l̩/
- Hyphenation: Ab‧orig‧in‧al
Adjective
Aboriginal (comparative more Aboriginal, superlative most Aboriginal)
- Of or pertaining to Australian Aboriginal peoples, Aborigines, or their language.
1991, Barry J. Blake, Australian Aboriginal Languages: A General Introduction, page 75:Academics who study Aboriginal languages are [...] contributing to Man’s search for knowledge, a search that interests most people even if they are not personally involved in it.
- Alternative letter-case form of aboriginal
Synonyms
- (of Aborigines): aboriginal, Aborigine, aborigine
- (of Aboriginal peoples): aboriginal, Native, native, Native American, First Nations, First Peoples, Indian, Eskimo, Inuit
Derived terms
Related terms
Translations
of or pertaining to aborigines
Translations to be checked
Noun
Aboriginal (plural Aboriginals)
- An Aboriginal inhabitant of Australia.
- Alternative letter-case form of aboriginal
Usage notes
Given that -al is an adjective suffix (and that Aboriginal was originally an adjective, Aborigines being the original noun), the usage of aboriginal as a noun was for a time considered incorrect.
Translations
original inhabitant of Australia
original inhabitant of any land
- Bulgarian: абориге́н (bg) (aborigén) (typically plural), тузе́мец (bg) (tuzémec)
- Czech: domorodec (cs) m
- Dutch: inboorling (nl) m, inboorlinge (nl) f
- Finnish: alkuperäinen asukas, alkuasukas (fi)
- French: indigène (fr) m or f
- German: Eingeborener (de) m, Eingeborene (de) f, Ureinwohner (de) m, Ureinwohnerin (de) f, Einheimischer (de) m, Einheimische (de) f
- Greek: ιθαγενής (el) m or f (ithagenís), αυτόχθων (el) m or f (aftóchthon)
- Hungarian: bennszülött (hu), őslakó (hu)
- Italian: aborigeno (it) m
- Norwegian:
- Bokmål: aborigin (no) m, urinnbygger m, urinnvåner m
- Portuguese: aborígene (pt) c, aborígine (pt) c
- Russian: абориге́н (ru) m (aborigén), тузе́мец (ru) m (tuzémec), автохто́н (ru) m (avtoxtón), коренно́й жи́тель m (korennój žítelʹ), уроже́нец (ru) m (urožénec)
- Serbo-Croatian: абориџин m, aboridžin m, домородац m, domorodac (sh) m
- Spanish: aborigen (es)
- Swedish: urinvånare (sv) c
- Ukrainian: абориге́н (uk) (aboryhén), тубі́лець (uk) (tubílecʹ), автохто́н (uk) (avtoxtón), тузе́мець (tuzémecʹ), уродже́нець (urodžénecʹ)
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Translations to be checked: "Translations to be checked"
Proper noun
Aboriginal
- Any of the native languages spoken by Australian aborigines.
Usage notes
In Canada, Aboriginal is most commonly capitalized (indicated by its status as the main headword in the Canadian Oxford Dictionary). The term has official status in the Constitution Act of 1982, and while recognizing that it is encountered in lowercase, since 1994 the Government of Canada has recommended the word be always capitalized (like, for example, Asian, Hispanic, and Nordic) and that it be used as a modifier, not a proper noun. It is used in this way by the Canadian Hansard and the Canadian Oxford Dictionary.
The U.S. Chicago Manual of Style recommends to capitalize ethnic groups and their associated adjectives: “Aborigines; an Aborigine; Aboriginal art”.
References
- Aboriginal on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
- Australian Aboriginal languages on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
- “Aboriginal” in the Canadian Oxford Dictionary, Second Edition, Oxford University Press, 2004.
- “Aboriginal”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.
- “Aboriginal people(s)” in the Terminology Guide, Indian and Northern Affairs Canada
- “Capitalized: ‘Aboriginal peoples in Canada’” in the NatNews-north email list
- “Letters About Mulatto and Malignity” (editor's note), CBC.ca
- University of Chicago (2003). The Chicago Manual of Style, 15th edition, p 325. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. →ISBN
- “Aboriginal peoples in Canada” in Wikipedia