Aboriginal

See also aboriginal

English

Alternative forms

• aboriginal

Etymology

1650, 1698 for inhabitants of European colonies, 1820–29 for Australian peoples. From aborigine (1540–50) + -al, in turn a back-formation from plural aborigines, from Latin, applied in classical times to indigenous peoples of Italy and Greece, it also means the first inhabitants of a land, the founders of a city, etc., probably from ab origine (“from the beginning”).

Pronunciation

• IPA: /æbəˈrɪdʒən(ə)l/, SAMPA: /{b@'rIdZ@n(@)l/
• Hyphenation: ab‧orig‧in‧al

• Audio (UK)

  (file)

Adjective

Aboriginal (comparative more Aboriginal, superlative most Aboriginal)

1. Of or pertaining to Aboriginal peoples.
2. Of or pertaining to Australian Aboriginal peoples, Aborigines. [from earlier 19th c.]
3. alternative capitalization of aboriginal

Synonyms

• (of Aborigines): aboriginal, Aborigine, aborigine
• (of Aboriginal peoples): aboriginal, Native, native, Native American, First Nations, First Peoples, Indian, Eskimo, Inuit, Metis

Derived terms

• Aboriginal people
• Aboriginal peoples
• Aboriginal rights
• Aboriginal title

Related terms

• Aborigine, aborigine
• (slang, usually offensive) Abo, abo

Translations

of or pertaining to aborigines

Finnish: aboriginaali (fi)-, aboriginaalien (fi), alkuperäiskansan (fi) French: indigène (fr) German: indigene (de), einheimische (de) Italian: aborigeno (it)

Portuguese: aborígene (pt) c., aborígine (pt) c. Serbian: абориџински (sr) (aboridžinski) m. Ukrainian: аборигенський (uk) (aboryhéns’kyj), тубільний (uk) (tubíl’nyj)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

Vietnamese: thổ dân, thổ sản, đặc sản, ban sơ, nguyên thuỷ, cổ sơ

Noun

Aboriginal (plural Aboriginals)

1. An Aboriginal inhabitant of Australia, Aborigine.
2. An Aboriginal inhabitant, person, animal, or plant native to the region. Also aboriginal.

   It may well be doubted whether this frog is an aboriginal of these islands. - Darwin.

Translations

original inhabitant of Australia

Cherokee: ᏅᏁᎯᏯ  (chr) Dutch: Aboriginal (nl) m. Finnish: aboriginaali (fi) Greek: Αβορίγινας (el) (Avoríginas) m. Korean: 호주 원주민의 Portuguese: aborígene (pt) c., aborígine (pt) c. Russian: абориген (ru)

Serbian: Абориџин (sr) (Aboridžin) m. Spanish: aborigen (es), aboriginal (es) Ukrainian: абориген (uk) (aboryhén), тубілець (uk) (tubiléc’)

original inhabitant of any land

Dutch: inboorling m., inboorlinge f. Finnish: alkuperäinen asukas, alkuasukas French: indigène (fr) m. and f. German: Eingeborener (de) m., Eingeborene (de) f., Ureinwohner (de) m., Ureinwohnerin (de) f. Einheimischer (de) m., Einheimische (de) f. Greek: ιθαγενής (el) (ithagenís) m. and f., αυτόχθων (el) (aftóchthon) m. and f. Hungarian: bennszülött (hu), őslakó (hu) Italian: aborigeno (it) m.

Portuguese: aborígene (pt) c., aborígine (pt) c. Russian: абориген (ru), туземец (ru), автохтон (ru) Serbian: абориџин (sr) (aboridžin) m., домородац (sr) (domorodac) m. Spanish: aborigen (es) Ukrainian: абориген (uk) (aboryhén), тубілець (uk) (tubiléc’), автохтон (uk) (avtoxtón), туземець (uk) (tuzeméc’), уродженець (uk) (urodženéc’)

animal or a plant native to the region

Finnish: alkuperäislaji German: einheimisch (de) Greek: ιθαγενές (el) (ithagenés) n., αυτόχθον (el) (aftóchthon) n. Portuguese: aborígene (pt) c., aborígine (pt) c.

Ukrainian: абориген (uk) (aboryhén), тубілець (uk) (tubiléc’), автохтон (uk) (avtoxtón), туземець (uk) (tuzeméc’), уродженець (uk) (urodženéc’)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

Crimean Tatar: aborigen Bulgarian: туземец m. (1), абориген m. (3)

Interlingua: aborigine

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.

Proper noun

Aboriginal

1. 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 widely used otherwise, 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” in the Canadian Oxford Dictionary, Second Edition, Oxford University Press, 2004.
• “Aboriginal” in Dictionary.com Unabridged, v1.1, Lexico Publishing Group, 2006.
• “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 0226104036
• “Aboriginal peoples in Canada” in Wikipedia