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Aborigine, the noun specifically meaning “an Indigenous inhabitant of Australia,” is an outdated and often offensive term: Don't say the Aborigines of Melbourne and Sydney.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

Explanation

If you’re an aborigine in a country, that means you were there first. Use the word to refer to someone or something that has been there since the beginning. The word aborigine traces back to the Latin ab origine, meaning "from the beginning," and as you might guess, this noun refers to something that has been there from the start. Aborigine is most often used to refer to a native group that has a longstanding historic or cultural tie to an area or country, unlike other groups that may have entered later to colonize the region. If the word is capitalized, it refers to someone belonging to the group of people that first inhabited Australia.

Example Sentences

Gosch, who is mixed African American and Aborigine, is struck by “how emboldened people are because the president is emboldening” of racism.

From The Guardian • Jan. 13, 2020

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

From Science Magazine • Jul. 19, 2017

Plains Aborigine groups spent years petitioning for official recognition, even appealing to the United Nations.

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