Sometimes Aboriginal. relating to or typical of the original or earliest known inhabitants of a region, or their descendants: aboriginal customs.
the aboriginal people of Tahiti;
aboriginal customs.
Aboriginal. relating to or being a member of any of the peoples who are the earliest known inhabitants of Australia, or one of their descendants.
an Aboriginal tribe of Tasmania.
originating in and characteristic of a particular region or country; native; indigenous.
aboriginal mammals of the Arctic.
See Aborigine.
The Australian government suggests that the most exact and inclusive way of referring to the indigenous peoples of Australia is Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples . Other terms which are acceptable are: Aboriginal people(s) , Australian Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders
The native, indigenous people of a country are often called aboriginals. In Canada, the First Nations — Inuits and Métis — would be considered aboriginals. The adjective form of aboriginal is used to describe anything related to the people native to an area. You may visit a museum that has an exhibit of aboriginal art; or, if you're a linguist, you may study aboriginal languages. The adjective can also be used to describe something that is indigenous to a place and existed there from the beginning, such as "an aboriginal forest" that consists of old, old trees.
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There are several ongoing aboriginal title claims in British Columbia, and the Cowichan decision could affect private-property owners in those regions as well.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 21, 2025
Similar to the Coquille, the Karuk went decades without a reservation, even after the U.S. government took ownership of the tribe’s aboriginal hunting and fishing land in a forested swath of the Klamath River Basin.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 9, 2024
“The DNA study also provides the Blood Tribe/Kainai with a new line of evidence to help further treaty and aboriginal rights,” the study authors wrote to Science in a collaborative statement.
From Science Magazine ● Apr. 3, 2024
The area has some of the highest concentrations of Taiwan’s aboriginal population, with several of the island’s Indigenous tribes calling the county home.
From New York Times ● Apr. 3, 2024
It was an aboriginal darkness now that Toomer studied, waiting for a face or a voice to materialize.
From "The Great Santini" by Pat Conroy
The inquiry heard evidence from an Aboriginal community living near a navy base in New South Wales state, who bathed in and gathered food near rivers contaminated by firefighting foam.
From Barron's ● May 28, 2026
Aboriginal leaders say there needs to be a holistic approach that will help solve the deep social inequalities in the territory.
From BBC ● May 15, 2026
This is a period of grieving among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples that involves cultural practices and ceremonies and can last days, weeks or even months.
From BBC ● May 15, 2026
For some Alice residents, there needs to be a reframing of how Aboriginal communities are seen - and supported.
From BBC ● May 15, 2026
Within one century of European colonization, 40,000 years of Aboriginal traditions had been mostly swept away.
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
Yet when aboriginal leaders suggested that any amendment to the constitution should empower, rather than simply nod at aboriginals, the government demurred.
From Economist ● Jul. 5, 2018
The prince then travelled into Australia's Daintree Rainforest where he met the Kuku Yalanji aboriginals.
From BBC ● Apr. 8, 2018
Parks Canada will determine ownership in conjunction with the Inuit aboriginals in the northernmost Canadian territory of Nunavut and unnamed “government organizations”, the agency said, without giving details.
From The Guardian ● Sep. 26, 2016
Even before the court ruling, the Gateway project was under a cloud of uncertainty because of local opposition from aboriginals, environmentalists and lawmakers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 20, 2016
A man who could speak the language of the aboriginals accompanied our young friends in their visit to the encampment.
From The Land of the Kangaroo Adventures of Two Youths in a Journey through the Great Island Continent by Knox, Thomas Wallace
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
