Aborigine

American  

[ab-uh-rij-uh-nee] / ˌæb əˈrɪdʒ ə ni /

noun

1. Also called Australian Aborigine.  Often Offensive. a member of any of the peoples who are the earliest known inhabitants of Australia, or one of their descendants. Also

2. Sometimes Offensive. one of the original or earliest known inhabitants of a region, or one of their descendants.

   the Aborigines of Canada and Greenland.

3. aborigines, the original, native fauna or flora of a region.

---

Aborigine ¹ British  

/ ˌæbəˈrɪdʒɪnɪ /

noun

1. Also called: Aboriginal.  a member of the indigenous people who were living in Australia when European settlers arrived

2. any of the languages of this people See also Australian

---

aborigine ² British  

/ ˌæbəˈrɪdʒɪnɪ /

noun

1. an original inhabitant of a country or region who has been there from the earliest known times

---

Usage

Aborigine, the noun specifically meaning “an Indigenous inhabitant of Australia,” is an outdated and often offensive term: Don't say the Aborigines of Melbourne and Sydney. Instead, use the related adjective Aboriginal, which is preferred and acceptable, and say, the Aboriginal Australians of Melbourne and Sydney. Similarly, the noun use of Aboriginal with specific reference to Australia is also often offensive, as in Australian Aboriginals. Again, you can use the adjectival form: Aboriginal Australians.

Etymology

Origin of Aborigine

First recorded in 1540–50; by back formation from aborigines, from Latin Aborīginēs “the pre-Roman inhabitants of Italy,” probably alteration of an earlier ethnonym by association with ab origine

Example Sentences

Since then, Gosch, who is mixed African American and Aborigine, has grown increasingly alarmed at Trump emboldening overt bigotry.

From The Guardian • Aug. 21, 2020

With Aborigine permission, the team reexcavated the site in 2012 and 2015 with painstaking stratigraphic controls.

From Science Magazine • Jul. 19, 2017

My Uncle Yeh, whose mother’s mother was fully Plains Aborigine, is the very embodiment of what blood nationalists would consider quintessentially Taiwanese.

From Slate • May 8, 2017

After #TheArtistIsRacist started trending because of her statement, Abramovic posted a statement to Facebook in August: “I have the greatest respect for Aborigine people, to whom I owe everything.”

From Washington Post • Dec. 16, 2016

One good example is the huge variety the first European settlers found among the Aborigine peoples of Australia.

From "Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind" by Yuval Noah Harari