Australia
Etymology

First attested 16th century, from , from auster ("the south wind").

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.

Pronunciation
  • (Australia, Macquarie Dictionary) IPA: /ɒˈstɹeɪl.jə/, /əˈstɹeɪl.jə/
  • (Australia) IPA: /əˈstɹæɪl.jə/, /əˈstɹæɪ.liː.ə/, /əˈstɹæɪ.jə/, /-ɹɛl-/, /-ɹe.jə/,
  • (Tasmanian) IPA: /əˈstɹɛ.liː.ə/
  • (RP) IPA: /ɒˈstɹeɪ.liː.ə/, /ɒˈstɹeɪ.li.jə/
  • (RP, dated) IPA: /ɔːˈstɹeɪ.lɪ.ə/, /ɔːˈstɹeɪ.lɪ.jə/
  • (America) IPA: /ɔˈstɹeɪl.jə/, /ɔˈstɹeɪl.i.ə/
  • (cot-caught) IPA: /ɑˈstɹɛ.li.ə/, /ɑˈstɹɛl.jə/, /-ɹeɪl-/
Proper noun
  1. An island in Oceania.
    • 1693: translation of a French novel by Jacques Sadeur (believed to be a pen name of Gabriel de Foigny) titled Les Aventures de Jacques Sadeur dans la Découverte et le Voiage de la Terre Australe published 1692, translation published in London in 1693. Quoted in The Australian Language by Sidney J. Baker, second edition, 1966, chapter XIX, section 1, pages 388-9.
      This is all that I can have a certain knowledge of as to that side of Australia ...
    • 1814, Matthew Flinders, A Voyage to Terra Australis, volume 1 (at Project Gutenberg ↗)
      Had I permitted myself any innovation upon the original term, it would have been to convert it into AUSTRALIA; as being more agreeable to the ear, and an assimilation to the names of the other great portions of the earth.
  2. A country in Oceania comprising the islands of Australia, Tasmania and other smaller islands in the Pacific Ocean, as well as its precursor colony in the British Empire.
    Synonyms: Aussie, Aussieland, land down under, New Holland, Oz, Terra Australis, Upsidedownland, Stralia, Straya
    Hypernyms: Antipodes
  3. (geology) A continent consisting of the islands of Australia, New Guinea and intervening islands. New Guinea and the intervening islands are also on the Australian tectonic plate and are thus geologically considered part of the continent.
    Synonyms: Meganesia, Sahul, Oceania
Translations Translations


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