King Billy

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English

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Pronunciation

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Proper noun

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King Billy

  1. (Australia, obsolete) Imaginary king of the Australian aboriginal people.
    • 1901, Henry Lawson, A Bush Publican's Lament, republished in Children of the Bush, Gutenberg eBook #7065,
      An' supposen Ole King Billy an' his ole black gin comes round at holiday time and squats on the verander, [] .
  2. Tasmanian aboriginal man William Lanne (c.1835-1869) believed to have been the last Tasmanian aboriginal man.[1]
  3. Any one of various other aboriginal men at times referred to as King Billy.[1]
  4. (Ireland, Scotland, informal) King William III of England.

Derived terms

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References

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  1. 1.0 1.1 “King Billy”, entry in 1970, Bill Wannan, Australian Folklore, Lansdowne Press, 1979, →ISBN, page 333.