Australia
Language: English
Part of speech: name
Pronunciation: ipa: /ɒˈstɹeɪ.liː.ə/
ipa: /ɒˈstɹeɪ.li.jə/
ipa: /ɔːˈstɹeɪ.lɪ.ə/
ipa: /ɔːˈstɹeɪ.lɪ.jə/
note: General Australian, Macquarie Dictionary
ipa: /ɒˈstɹeɪl.jə/
note: General Australian, Macquarie Dictionary
ipa: /əˈstɹeɪl.jə/
ipa: /əˈstɹæɪl.jə/
ipa: /əˈstɹæɪ.liː.ə/
ipa: /əˈstɹæɪ.jə/
ipa: /-ɹɛl-/
ipa: /-ɹe.jə/
ipa: /əˈstɹɛ.liː.ə/
ipa: /ɔˈstɹeɪl.jə/
ipa: /ɔˈstɹeɪl.i.ə/
ipa: /ɑˈstɹɛl.i.ə/
ipa: /ɑˈstɹɛl.jə/
ipa: /-ɹeɪl-/
rhymes: -eɪliə
Forms: form: Straya
form: 'Straya
Etymology: 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).
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.
Senses: examples: text: 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 ...
text: 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.
ref: 1814, Matthew Flinders, A Voyage to Terra Australis, volume 1 (at Project Gutenberg)
glosses: An island of Oceania.
examples: text: During Movember (the month formerly known as November), men around the globe grow mustaches (hence the name) while raising money for men’s health issues. Movember started in Australia in 2003.
ref: 2011 November 1, Emily Smith, “‘Movember’ gets hairy, for a cause”, in CNN:
text: The statement did not specify the location of that trip, but provided further details of her romantic life, stating that Saroukos and her husband spent eight days together before she returned to Australia on Dec. 21.
ref: 2025 May 30, Riley Cedar, “Soldier’s wife deported to Australia after detainment in Hawaii”, in Military Times:
synonyms: Aussie
Aussieland
land down under
New Holland
Oz
Terra Australis
Upsidedownland
Stralia
Straya
hypernyms: Antipodes
glosses: A country consisting of a main island, the island of Tasmania and other smaller islands, located in Oceania; historically, a collection of former colonies of the British Empire. Official name: Commonwealth of Australia. Capital: Canberra.
examples: text: He is going to Australia for his honeymoon for 10 days.
topics: geography
geology
natural-sciences
synonyms: Meganesia
Sahul
Oceania
glosses: A continent consisting of the land on the Australian tectonic plate, i.e. Australia, New Guinea and intervening islands.
Derived terms: Aussie
Australasia
Australia antigen
Australia Day
Australia Felix
Australian
Australianism
Australia Tax
Central Australia
Commonwealth of Australia
Eastralia
Massachusetts of Australia
North Australia
Order of Australia
South Australia
Western Australia
Westralia
Related terms: Austrasia
Austria
AU
Aust
Countries of the world