Link Centre Dictionary

Australia

aust·ra·lia

UK/ɒˈstɹeɪ.liː.ə/ US/ɒˈstɹeɪ.li.jə/ common

noun

1.

a nation occupying the whole of the Australian continent; aboriginal tribes are thought to have migrated from southeastern Asia 20,000 years ago; first Europeans were British convicts sent there as a penal colony

Synonyms
2.

Origin

First attested 16th century, from Latin terra austrālis incōgnita (“unknown southern land”), from auster (“the south wind”). Used also in 1693 (quotation below). Popularised by Matthew Flinders in 1814 (quotation below). By surface analysis, Austral- + -ia. Distantly cognate to Austria, containing the same Proto-Indo-European root, but through German where it retained the earlier sense of “east” rather than “south”. See also Terra Australis.

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WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.