Aboriginal

English

Etymology

See Aboriginal#Etymology.

Pronunciation

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Adjective

Aboriginal (comparative more Aboriginal, superlative most Aboriginal)

1. Original or indigenous to a place
   • 1814, William Wordsworth, The Excursion, Longman et al. (publishers), page 277:

     Green in the Church-yard, beautiful and green; / […] / And mantled o'er with aboriginal turf / And everlasting flowers.

2. alternative capitalization of Aboriginal

Synonyms

• (indigenous to a place): native, indigenous, autochthonous, endemic, original, first, earliest, primitive, ancient, primordial, primeval

Derived terms

• aboriginality
• aboriginally

Related terms

• aborigine

Thesaurus

abecedarian; aborigine; ancestral; antenatal; antepatriarchal; atavistic; autochthon; autochthonous; barbarian; barbaric; barbarous; basal; basic; beginning; budding; central; creative; crucial; elemental; elementary; embryonic; endemic; fetal; formative; foundational; fundamental; generative; genetic; germinal; gestatory; homebred; homegrown; humanoid; in embryo; in its infancy; in ovo; in the bud; inaugural; inceptive; inchoate; inchoative; incipient; incunabular; indigene; indigenous; infant; infantile; initial; initiative; initiatory; introductory; inventive; nascent; natal; native; native-born; original; parturient; patriarchal; postnatal; preadamite; preglacial; pregnant; prehistoric; prehuman; prenatal; primal; primary; prime; primeval; primitive; primogenial; primoprimitive; primordial; pristine; procreative; protogenic; protohistoric; protohuman; radical; rudimental; rudimentary; savage; seminal; ur; vernacular

Translations

original; indigenous

Bulgarian: коренен (bg), местен (bg), туземен (bg) Dutch: inheems (nl), inheemse (nl) Finnish: alkuperäinen (fi) French: indigène (fr) German: eingeboren (de), einheimisch (de) Greek: ιθαγενής (el) (ithagenís) m. and f. Irish: bundúchasach (ga)

Italian: aborigeno (it) Manx: bun-chummallagh (gv), bun-dooghyssagh (gv) Portuguese: aborígene (pt) Spanish: aborigen (es), indígena (es) Ukrainian: аборигенський (uk) (aboryhéns’kyj), тубільний (uk) (tubíl’nyj), автохтонний (uk) (avtoxtónnyj), туземський (uk) (tuzéms’kyj)

Noun

Aboriginal (plural Aboriginals)

1. alternative capitalization of Aboriginal

Usage notes

• Using uncapitalized aboriginal to refer to people or anything associated with people may cause offence.
• In Canada, style manuals recommend against using the noun Aboriginal for a person or people.
• See also the usage notes under Aboriginal.