Australian [aw-streyl-yuh n] ExamplesWord Origin adjective
- of or relating to Australia, its inhabitants, or their languages.
- Zoogeography. belonging to a geographical division comprising Australia, New Zealand, Tasmania, Celebes, the Moluccas, Papua New Guinea, and adjacent smaller islands.
- Phytogeography. belonging or pertaining to a geographical division comprising Australia and Tasmania.
noun
- a native or inhabitant of Australia.
- an Aborigine of Australia.
- the phylum of languages spoken by the Aborigines of Australia, consisting of more than a hundred languages. Abbreviation: Austral, Austral.
Origin of Australian Australi(a) + -an Related formsan·ti-Aus·tral·ian, adjective, nounpro-Aus·tral·ian, adjective, nounpseu·do-Aus·tral·ian, adjective, nountrans-Aus·tral·ian, adjectiveun-Aus·tral·ian, adjective Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019 Examples from the Web for australian Contemporary Examples of australian
Between June and October 1943, 4,283 British, 1,303 Dutch, 1,630 Australian, and 88 American soldiers died.
Riding Thailand’s WWII Death Railway
Liza Foreman
December 21, 2014
An Australian woman in her late twenties told me she was an “honorary Jew” with no actual Jewish heritage.
I Ate Potato Pancakes Til I Plotzed
Emily Shire
December 17, 2014
His sex-offender pedigree was real, though; Australian police have those certificates.
The Sydney Astrologer Turned Islamic Radical
Jacob Siegel
December 16, 2014
At that time, though, my job as a rep for an Australian company made it impossible to leave Australia.
Ted Hughes’s Brother on Losing Sylvia Plath
Gerald Hughes
December 2, 2014
The most astonishing came from Ron and Mavis Pirola, a middle-aged Australian couple who have been together for 57 years.
The Vatican’s Same-Sex Synod: The Bishops Hear About Reality. Do They Listen?
Barbie Latza Nadeau
October 12, 2014
Historical Examples of australian
Davidson, a plucky Australian officer attached to us, was among the killed.
Gerald B. Hurst
The Australian lady set her down as a well-preserved forty at least.
L. Allen Harker
They were accompanied by the Australian cruisers Melbourne and Sydney.
The Story of the Great War, Volume II (of VIII)
Various
Australian up-country hotels are certainly not meant for rest.
Lady (Annie Allnutt) Brassey
Australian colonists are the most hospitable people in the world.
Lady (Annie Allnutt) Brassey
British Dictionary definitions for australian Australian noun
- a native or inhabitant of Australia
- the form of English spoken in Australia
- a linguistic phylum consisting of the languages spoken by the native Australians
adjective
- of, relating to, or characteristic of Australia, the Australians, or their form of English
- of, relating to, or belonging to the phylum of languages spoken by the native Australians
- of or denoting a zoogeographical region consisting of Australia, New Zealand, Polynesia, New Guinea, and the Moluccas
Collins English Dictionary – Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012 Word Origin and History for australian Australian n.
1690s, in reference to aboriginal inhabitants, from Australia + -an. As an adjective by 1814. Australianism in speech is attested from 1891.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper