aborigine

noun

ab·​orig·​i·​ne ˌa-bə-ˈri-jə-(ˌ)nē 

-ˈrij-

plural aborigines

1

dated : a person descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a place and especially of a place that was colonized : an Indigenous (see indigenous sense 1b) person

2

Aborigine plural Aborigines, offensive : a member of any of the Indigenous peoples of Australia : a person descended from the earliest known inhabitants of Australia

Note: Aborigine is widely considered offensive in that it was imposed by colonizers and casts hundreds of independent nations as a single category.

Synonyms of aborigine

• aboriginal

Examples of aborigine in a Sentence

a national sport whose origins can be traced to an ancient game first played by the aborigines

Recent Examples on the Web

The Guanches were aborigines of the Canary Islands. —Jp Mangalindan, Peoplemag, 21 Feb. 2024

The bill’s sponsors insisted their motives were not racist, although, one of the sponsors, state Sen. Scott Beason, later recorded himself referring to black people as aborigines while wearing a wire for the FBI. —Kyle Whitmire, al, 22 Nov. 2019

Breuil based his conclusions on contemporary anthropological observations of the Arunta aborigines in central Australia. —Roger Lewin, Discover Magazine, 11 Nov. 2019

In Kerala, one of India’s most socially advanced states, aborigines form 1.45% of the 33.4 million population (2011 Census), but have remained alienated. —K A Shaji, Quartz India, 30 Aug. 2019

Markets just happened among Australian aborigines buying boomerangs from better-skilled bands hundreds of miles distant. —Deirdre McCloskey, WSJ, 7 Sep. 2018

The key ingredient is a thorny acacia shrub the aborigines prized for its medicinal properties. —Hilda Hoy, Slate Magazine, 8 May 2017

Word History

Etymology

back-formation from aborigines, plural, borrowed from Latin Aborīginēs, a pre-Roman people of Latium

Note: The Latin name was variously interpreted by ancient authors, though modern etymologies tend to claim that the word is a parasynthetic derivative from the phrase ab origine, "from the beginning/first appearance." This would make sense if the word was formed as a generic name for "first inhabitants," though earlier Latin sources (Cato, Varro) treated it as the name of a specific people. According to Serviusʼs commentary on the Aeneid, Virgil intended "Aboriginum reges" in the line "aliique ab origine reges/Martiaque ob patriam pugnando uolnera passi" (Aeneid 7.180) ["others kings by birth, who suffered battle wounds fighting for their country"], " … sed est metro prohibitus" ["but the meter prohibits it"]. The lexical antiquarian Sextus Pompeius Festus, on the other hand, suggests a connection with aberrāre, "to wander off," as does the Origo gentis Romanae (late 4th century a.d.), which also proffers Greek óros, "mountain." None of these etymologies seem probable.

First Known Use

1593, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for aborigine

• polygyny

Kids Definition

aborigine

noun

ab·​orig·​i·​ne ˌab-ə-ˈrij-ə-(ˌ)nē 

1

: a member of the original people to live in an area : native

2

often capitalized : a member of any of the Indigenous people of Australia

Etymology

from Latin aborigines "original inhabitants," from ab origine "from the beginning," from origin-, origo "beginning, source," from oriri "to rise" — related to origin