AUSTRALASIAN DICTIONARY_Austral English

<hw>Absentee</hw>, n. euphemistic term for a convict.

The word has disappeared with the need for it.

1837. Jas. Mudie, `Felonry of New South Wales,' p. vii.:

"The ludicrous and affected philanthropy of the present

Governor of the Colony, in advertising runaway convicts under

the soft and gentle name of absentees, is really

unaccountable, unless we suppose it possible that his

Excellency as a native of Ireland, and as having a

well-grounded Hibernian antipathy to his absentee countrymen,

uses the term as one expressive both of the criminality of the

absentee and of his own abhorrence of the crime."

<hw>Acacia</hw>, n. and adj. a genus of shrubs or

trees, N.O. Leguminosae. The Australian species often

form thickets or scrubs, and are much used for hedges. The

species are very numerous, and are called provincially by

various names, e.g. "Wattle," "Mulga," "Giddea," and "Sally,"

an Anglicized form of the aboriginal name Sallee (q.v.).

The tree peculiar to Tasmania, Acacia riceana, Hensl.,

(i>N.O. Leguminosae, is there called the Drooping

Acacia.

1827. P. Cunningham, `Two Years in New South Wales,' vol. i.

p. 202:

"We possess above a hundred and thirty species of the acacia."

1839. Dr. J. Shotsky, quoted in `Sydney Morning Herald,' Aug. 5,

p. 5, col. 2:

"Yet, Australian sky and nature awaits and merits real artists

to portray it. Its gigantic gum and acacia trees, 40 ft. in

girth, some of them covered with a most smooth bark, externally

as white as chalk. .. ."

1844. L. Leichhardt, Letter in `Cooksland,' by J. D. Lang, p. 91:

"Rosewood Acacia, the wood of which has a very agreeable violet

scent like the Myal Acacia (A. pendula) in Liverpool

Plains."

1846. C. P. Hodgson, `Reminiscences of Australia,' p. 149:

"The Acacias are innumerable, all yielding a famous bark for

tanning, and a clean and excellent gum."

1869. Mrs. Meredith, `A Tasmanian Memory,' p. 8:

"Acacias fringed with gold."

1877. F. v. Mueller, `Botanic Teachings,' p. 24:

"The name Acacia, derived from the Greek, and indicative of a

thorny plant, was already bestowed by the ancient naturalist

and physician Dioscorides on a Gum-Arabic yielding

North-African Acacia not dissimilar to some Australian species.

This generic name is so familiarly known, that the appellation

`Wattle' might well be dispensed with. Indeed the name Acacia

is in full use in works on travels and in many popular writings

for the numerous Australian species . . . Few of any genera of

plants contain more species than Acacia, and in Australia it is

the richest of all; about 300 species, as occurring in our

continent, have been clearly defined."

<hw>Acrobates</hw>, n. the scientific name of the

Australian genus of Pigmy Flying-Phalangers, or, as they

are locally called, Opossum-Mice. See Opossum-Mouse,

Flying-Mouse, Flying-Phalanger, and Phalanger. The

genus was founded by Desmarest in 1817.

(Grk. 'akrobataes, walking on tiptoe.)

<hw>AEpyprymnus</hw>, n. the scientific name of the genus

of the Rufous Kangaroo-Rat. It is the tallest and

largest of the Kangaroo-Rats (q.v.). (Grk. 'aipus,

high, and prumnon, the hinder part.)

<hw>Ailuroedus</hw>, n. scientific name for the genus of

Australian birds called Cat-birds (q.v.). From

Grk. 'ailouros, a cat, and 'eidos, species.

<hw>Ake</hw>, n. originally Akeake, Maori name for either

of two small trees, (1) Dodonaea viscosa, Linn., in New

Zealand; (2) Olearia traversii, F. v. M., in the Chatham

Islands. Ake is originally a Maori adv. meaning

"onwards, in time." Archdeacon Williams, in his `Dictionary of

New Zealand Language,' says Ake, Ake, Ake,

means " for ever and ever." (Edition 182.)

1820. `Grammar and Vocabulary of Language of New Zealand' (Church

Missionary Society), p.133:

"Akeake, paulo post futurum"

1835. W. Yale, `Some Account of New Zealand,' p. 47:

"Aki, called the Lignum vitae of New Zealand."

1851. Mrs. Wilson, `New Zealand,' p. 43:

"The ake and towai . . . are almost equal, in point of colour,

to rosewood."

1883. J. Hector, `Handbook to New Zealand,' p. 131:

"Ake, a small tree, 6 to 12 feet high. Wood very hard,

variegated, black and white; used for Maori clubs; abundant in

dry woods and forests."

<hw>Alarm-bird</hw>, n. a bird-name no longer used in

Australia. There is an African Alarm-bird.

1848. J. Gould, `Birds of Australia,' vol. vi. pl. 9:

"Lobivanellus lobatus (Lath.), Wattled Pewit, Alarm Bird of

the Colonists."

<hw>Alectryon</hw>, n. a New Zealand tree and flower,

Alectryon excelsum, De C., Maori name Titoki

(q.v.); called also the New Zealand Oak, from the

resemblance of its leaves to those of an oak. Named by

botanists from Grk. 'alektruown, a cock.

1872. A. Domett, `Ranolf,' I. 7, p. 16:

"The early season could not yet

Have ripened the alectryon's beads of jet,

Each on its scarlet strawberry set."

<hw>Alexandra Palm</hw>, n. a Queensland tree,

Ptychosperma alexandrae, F. v. M. A beautifully marked

wood much used for making walking sticks. It grows 70 or 80

feet high.

<hw>Alluvial</hw>, n. the common term in Australia and

New Zealand for gold-bearing alluvial soil. The word is also

used adjectivally as in England.

1889. Rolf Boldrewood, `Robbery under Arms,' p. 403:

"The whole of the alluvial will be taken up, and the Terrible

Hollow will re-echo with the sound of pick and shovel."

<hw>Ambrite</hw> (generally called ambrit), n.

Mineral [from amber + ite, mineral formative, `O.E.D.'], a

fossil resin found in masses amidst lignite coals in various

parts of New Zealand. Some identify it with the resin of

Dammara australis, generally called Kauri gum

(q.v.).

1867. F. von Hochstetter, `New Zealand,' p. 79:

"Although originating probably from a coniferous tree related

to the Kauri pine, it nevertheless has been erroneously taken

for Kauri gum."--[Footnote]: "It is sufficiently characterised

to deserve a special name ; but it comes so near to real

amber that it deserves the name of Ambrite."

[This is the earliest use of the word.]

<hw>Anabranch</hw>, n. a branch of a river which leaves

it and enters it again. The word is not Australian, though it

is generally so reckoned. It is not given in the `Century,'

nor in the `Imperial,' nor in `Webster,' nor in the `Standard.'

The `O.E.D.' treats Ana as an independent word, rightly

explaining it as anastomosing, but its quotation from

the `Athenaeum' (1871), on which it relies,is a misprint. For

the origin and coinage of the word, see quotation 1834. See

the aboriginal name Billabong.

1834. Col.Jackson, `Journal of Royal Geographical Society,' p. 79:

"Such branches of a river as after separation re-unite, I would

term anastomosing-branches; or, if a word might be

coined, ana-branches, and the islands they form,

branch-islands. Thus, if we would say, `the river in

this part of its course divides into several

ana-branches,' we should immediately understand the

subsequent re-union of the branches to the main trunk."

Col. Jackson was for a while Secretary and Editor of the

Society's Journal. In Feb. 1847 he resigned that position, and

in the journal of that year there is the following amusing

ignorance of his proposed word--

1847. `Condensed Account of Sturt's Exploration in the

Interior of Australia--Journal of the Royal Geographical

Society,' p. 87:

"Captain Sturt proposed sending in advance to ascertain the

state of the Ana branch of the Darling, discovered by Mr. Eyre

on a recent expedition to the North."

No fewer than six times on two pages is the word

anabranch printed as two separate words, and as if

Ana were a proper name. In the Index volume it appears

"Ana, a branch of the Darling."

1847. L. Leichhardt, `Overland Expedition,' p. 35:

"The river itself divided into anabranches which . . . made the

whole valley a maze of channels."

1865. W. Howitt, `Discovery in Australia,' vol. i. p. 298:

"What the Major calls, after the learned nomenclature of

Colonel Jackson, in the `Journal of the Geographical Society,'

anabranches, but which the natives call billibongs, channels

coming out of a stream and returning into it again."

1871. `The Athenaeum,' May 27, p. 660 (' O.E.D.'):

"The Loddon district is called the County of Gunbower,

which means, it is said, an ana branch [sic]."

1890. Rolf Boldrewood, `Squatter's Dream,' p. 48:

"A plain bordering an ana-branch sufficient for water."

<hw>Anchorwing</hw>, n. a bird-name, Falco

melanogenys, Gould. The Black-cheeked Falcon, so called

because of the resemblance of the wings outspread in flight to

the flukes of an anchor.

<hw>Anguillaria</hw>, n. one of the vernacular names

used for the common Australian wild flower, Anguillaraa

australis, R. Br., Wurmbsea dioica, F. v. M.,

N.O. Liliaceae. The name Anguillarea is from the

administrator of the Botanic Gardens of Padua, three centuries

ago. There are three Australian forms, distinguished by Robert

Brown as species. The flower is very common in the meadows in

early spring, and is therefore called the Native Snow

Drop. In Tasmania it is called Nancy.

1835. Ross, `Hobart Town Almanack,' 67:

"Spotted Anguillaria. Nancy. The little lively white flower

with blue spots in the centre, about 2 inches high, that

everywhere enlivens our grassy hills in spring, resembling the

Star of Bethlehem."

1878. W. R. Guilfoyle, `Australian Botany,' p. 83:

"Native Snowdrop. Anguillaria Australis. The earliest

of all our indigenous spring-flowering plants. . . . In early

spring our fields are white with the flowers of this pretty

little bulbous-rooted plant."

<hw>Ant-eater</hw>, n.

(1) i.q. Ant-eating-Porcupine. See Echidna.

(2) The Banded Ant-eater (q.v.).

<hw>Ant-eater, Banded</hw>. See Banded Ant-eater.

<hw>Antechinornys</hw>, n. scientific name for the genus

with the one species of Long legged Pouched-Mouse

(q.v.). (Grk. 'anti, opposed to, 'echivos,

hedgehog, and mus, mouse, sc. a mouse different to the

hedgehog.) It is a jumping animal exclusively insectivorous.

<hw>Antipodes</hw>, n. properly a Greek word, the plural

of 'antipous, lit. "having feet opposed." The

ancients, however, had no knowledge of the southern hemisphere.

Under the word perioikos, Liddell and Scott explain that

'antipodes meant "those who were in opposite parallels

and meridians." The word Antipodes was adopted into the

Latin language, and occurs in two of the Fathers, Lactantius

and Augustine. By the mediaeval church to believe in the

antipodes was regarded as heresy. `O.E.D.' quotes two examples

of the early use of the word in English.

1398. `Trevisa Barth. De P. R.,' xv. lii. (1495), p. 506:

"Yonde in Ethiopia ben the Antipodes, men that have theyr fete

ayenst our fete."

1556. `Recorde Cast. Knowl.,' 93:

"People . . . called of the Greeks and Latines also

'antipodes, Antipodes, as you might say

Counterfooted, or Counterpasers."

Shakspeare uses the word in five places, but, though he knew

that this "pendent world" was spherical, his Antipodes were not

Australasian. In three places he means only the fact that it

is day in the Eastern hemisphere when it is night in England.

`Midsummer Night's Dream,' III. ii. 55:

"I'll believe as soon

This whole earth may be bored, and that the moon

May thro' the centre creep and so displease

His brother's noontide with the Antipodes."

`Merchant of Venice,' V. 127:

"We should hold day with the Antipodes

If you would walk in absence of the sun."

`Richard II.,' III. ii. 49:

"Who all this while hath revell'd in the night,

Whilst we were wandering with the Antipodes."

In `Henry VI.,' part 3, I. iv. 135, the word more clearly

designates the East:

"Thou art as opposite to every good

As the Antipodes are unto us,

Or as the South to the Septentrion." [sc. the North.]

But more precise geographical indications are given in `Much

Ado,' II. i. 273, where Benedick is so anxious to avoid

Beatrice that he says--

"I will go on the slightest errand now to the Antipodes that

you can devise to send me on. I will fetch you a tooth-picker

now from the farthest inch of Asia; bring you the length of

Prester John's foot; fetch you a hair of the great Kam's beard;

do you any embassage to the Pygmies rather than hold three

words conference with this harpy."

Now the Pygmies lived on the Upper Nile, near Khartoum,

Prester John in India, and the great Kam (Khan) in Tartary.

The word Antipodes in modern use is applied rather to

places than to people. Geographically, the word means a place

exactly opposite on the surface of the globe, as Antipodes

Island (Eastward of New Zealand), which is very near the

opposite end of the diameter of the globe passing through

London. But the word is often used in a wider sense, and the

whole of Australasia is regarded as the Antipodes of Great

Britain.

The question is often asked whether there is any singular to

the word Antipodes, and `O.E.D.' shows that antipode is

still used in the sense of the exact opposite of a

person. Antipod is also used, especially playfully. The

adjectives used are Antipodal and Antipodean.

1640. Richard Brome [Title]:

"The Antipodes; comedy in verse." [Acted in 1638, first

printed 4t0. 1640.]

<hw>Ant-orchis</hw>, n. an Australian and Tasmanian

orchid, Chiloglottis gunnii, Lind.

<hw>Apple</hw> and <hw>Apple-tree</hw>, n. and

adj. The names are applied to various indigenous trees,

in some cases from a supposed resemblance to the English fruit,

in others to the foliage of the English tree. The varieties

are--

Black or Brush Apple--

Achras australis, R. Br.

Emu A.--

Owenia acidula, F. v. M.; called also Native

Nectarine and Native Quince.

Petalostigma quadriloculare, F. v. M.; called also

Crab-tree, Native Quince, Quinine-tree

(q.v.)

Kangaroo A.--

See Kangaroo Apple.

Mooley A. (West N.S.W. name)--

Owenia acidula, F. v. M.

Mulga A.--

The Galls of Acacia aneura, F. v. M.

Oak A.--

Cones of Casuarina stricta, Ait.

Rose A.--

Owenia cerasifera, F. v. M.

1820. John Oxley, `Journal of Two Expeditions into the Interior

of New South Wales,' p. 187:

"The blue gum trees in the neighbourhood were extremely fine,

whilst that species of Eucalyptus, which is vulgarly called the

apple-tree . . . again made its appearance. . . ."

1827. Vigors and Horsfield, `Transactions of Linnaean Society,'

vol. xv. p. 260:

"It builds its nest of sticks lined with grass in

Iron-bark and Apple-trees (a species of

Angophora)."

1827. P. Cunningham, `Two Years in New South Wales,'

vol. i. p. 200:

"The apple-trees resemble the English apple only in leaf."

1830. R. Dawson, `Present State of Australia,' p. 195:

"In looking down upon the rich flats below, adjoining the

stream, I was perpetually reminded of a thriving and rich

apple-orchard. The resemblance of what are called apple-trees

in Australia to those of the same name at home is so striking

at a distance in these situations, that the comparison could

not be avoided, although the former bear no fruit, and do not

even belong to the same species."

1846. C. P. Hodgson, `Reminiscences of Australia,' p. 52:

"I have heard of men employed in felling whole apple-trees

(Angophera lanceolata) for the sheep."

1846. J. L. Stokes, `Discoveries in Australia,' vol. ii. c.

iv. p. 132;

"Red Apple, Quonui, affects salt grounds."

1847. J. D. Lang, `Phillipsland,' p. 256:

"The plains, or rather downs, around it (Yass) are thinly but

most picturesquely covered with `apple-trees,' as they are

called by the colonists, merely from their resemblance to the

European apple-tree in their size and outline, for they do not

resemble it in producing an edible fruit."

1850. J. B. Clutterbuck, `Port Phillip in 1849,' p. 32:

"The musk-plant, hyacinth, grass-tree, and kangaroo apple-tree

are indigenous."

1852. G. C. Mundy, `Our Antipodes' (edition 1855), p. 219:

"Pomona would indignantly disown the apple-tree, for there is

not the semblance of a pippin on its tufted branches."

1881. A. C. Grant, `Bush Life in Queensland,' vol. i. p. 113:

"Sandy apple-tree flats, and iron-bark ridges, lined the creek

here on either side."

1896. H. Lawson, `When the World was Wide,' p. 158:

"The desolate flats where gaunt apple-trees rot."

<HW>Apple-berry</HW>, n. the fruit of an Australian

shrub, Billardiera scandens, Smith,

N.O. Pittosporeae, called by children "dumplings."

1793. J. E. Smith, `Specimen of Botany of New Holland,' pp. 1, 3:

"Billardiera scandens. Climbing Apple Berry. . . .

The name Billardiera is given it in honour of James Julian la

Billardiere, M.D., F.M.L.S., now engaged as botanist on board

the French ships sent in search of M. de la Peyrouse."

<hw>Apple-gum</hw>, n. See Gum.

<hw>Apple-scented gum</hw>, n. See Gum.

<hw>Apteryx</hw>, n. [Grk. 'a privative and

pterux, a wing.] A New Zealand bird about the size of

a domestic fowl, with merely rudimentary wings.See Kiwi.

1813. G. Shaw, `Naturalist's Miscellany.' c. xxiv. p. 1058

(`O.E.D.'):

"The Southern Apteryx."

1848. W. Westgarth, `Australia Felix,' p. 137:

"The present Apterix or wingless bird of that country (New

Zealand)."

1851. `Papers and Proceedings of the Royal Society of Van

Diemen's Land,' vol. i. p. 300 [Letter from Rev. W. Colenso,

Waitangi, Hawke's Bay, New Zealand, Sept. 4, 1850:

"You enquire after an Apteryx. How delighted should I

be to succeed in getting you one. Three years ago Owen

expressed a similar wish, and I have repeatedly tried, but

failed. Yet here they still are in the mountain forests,

though, doubtless, fast hastening towards extinction. I saw

one in its wild state two years ago in the dense woods of the

interior; I saw it clearly. . . . Two living specimens were

lately taken by the Acheron, steamer, to Sydney, where they

died; these were obtained at the Bay of Islands, where also I

once got three at one time. Since then I have not been able to

obtain another, although I have offered a great price for one.

The fact is, the younger natives do not know how to take them,

and the elder ones having but few wants, and those fully

supplied, do not care to do so. Further, they can only be

captured by night, and the dog must be well trained to be of

service."

1874. F. P. Cobbe, in `Littell's Age,' Nov. 7, p. 355

(`Standard'):

"We have clipped the wings of Fancy as close as if she were

an Apteryx.'

<hw>Arbutus, Native</hw>, n. See Wax-Cluster.

<hw>Ardoo</hw>, n. See Nardoo.

<hw>Artichoke</hw>, n. name given to the plant

Astelia Alpina, R. Br., N.O. Liliaceae.

<hw>Ash</hw>, n. The name, with various epithets, is

applied to the following different Australasian trees--

Black Ash--

Nephelium semiglaucum, F. v. M.,

N.O. Sapindaceae; called also Wild Quince.

Black Mountain A.-- Eucalyptus leucoxylon, F. v. M.,

N.O. Myrtaceae.

Blue A.--

Elaeodendron australe, Vent., N.O. Celastrinae.

Blueberry A.-- Elaeocarpus holopetalus, F. v. M.,

N.O. Tiliaceae.

Brush Apple-- Acronychia baueri, Schott. (of Illawarra,

N.S.W.).

Crow's A.--

Flindersia australis, R. Br., N.O. Meliaceae.

Elderberry A. (of Victoria)--

Panax sambucifolius, Sieb., N.O. Araliaceae.

Illawarra A.--

Elaeocarpus kirtonia, F. v. M., N.O. Tiliaceae.

Moreton Bay A.--

Eucalyptus tessellaris, Hook., N.O. Myrtaceae.

Mountain A. (see Mountain Ash).

New Zealand A. (see Titoki).

Pigeonberry A.--

Elaeocarpus obovatus, G. Don., N.O. Tiliaceae.

Red A.--

Alphitonia excelsa, Reiss, N.O. Rhamnaceae.

1847. L. Leichhardt, `Overland Expedition,' p. 75:

"The Moreton Bay Ash (a species of Eucalyptus). ..was

here also very plentiful."

<hw>Assigned</hw>, past part. of verb to assign,

to allot. Used as adj. of a convict allotted to a

settler as a servant. Colloquially often reduced to "signed."

1827. `Captain Robinson's Report,' Dec. 23:

"It was a subject of complaint among the settlers, that their

assigned servants could not be known from soldiers, owing to

their dress; which very much assisted the crime of

`bush-ranging.'"