Definitions and terms

Listed below are meanings of some terms used on this website. The meanings appear (except where indicated) in the Macquarie Concise Dictionary, Fourth Edition, University of Sydney, Australia, Reprinted 2008, or the Australian Concise Oxford Dictionary, Fifth Edition, Oxford University Press, 2009

aboriginal, adjective, of or relating to aborigines

Aboriginal, adj. 1. of or relating to the Australian Aborigines – noun, 2. an Australian Aborigine. See also: https://www.stylemanual.gov.au/accessible-and-inclusive-content/inclusive-language/aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander-peoples

Aborigine, n. one of the first inhabitants of a country; one of the people living in a country at the earliest period [Latin: from the beginning]

Aborigine, n. 1. a member of a tribal people, the earliest inhabitants of Australia 2. a descendant of this people …

Australia n. 1. The continent south-east of Asia, lying between the Indian and Pacific Oceans; the smallest continent in the world …[Latin: (Terra) Austral(is) southern land]

clash, n. & v. .n. 1. b a collision, esp. with force 2. a conflict or disagreement. .v. 2. intr. collide; 3. intr. a, come into conflict or be at variance

collision, n, 2. the clashing of opposed interests or considerations

colonialism, n. the policy of a nation seeking to extend or retain its authority over other peoples or territories

colonise, verb. to plant or establish a colony in; form into a colony; settle: England colonised Australia.

colonist, n. 1. an inhabitant of a colony. 2. a member of a colonising expedition

colony, n. 1. a group of people who leave their native country to form in a new land a settlement subject to, or connected with, the parent state. 2. the country or district settled or colonised. 3. any people or territory separated from but subject to a ruling power. 4. a number of foreigners from a particular country, living in a city or country, especially in one locality: the American colony of Paris. 5. any group of individuals of similar occupation, etc. usually living in a community of their own: a colony of artists. 6. The district or quarter inhabited by such a group. 7. an aggregation of bacteria growing together as the descendants of a single cell. 8. coexisting in close association.

conflict v. to come into collision; clash, or to be in opposition or at variance; disagree. 2. contend; do battle. n. 3. a battle or struggle, especially a prolonged struggle; strife. 4. controversy or quarrel: conflicts between church and state. 5. Discord of action, feeling or effect; antagonism, as of interests or principles: a conflict of ideas. [Latin: struck together]

decolonise v. (also-ize) (of a nation) withdraw from (a colony), leaving it independent.

disperse v. 1. intr. & tr, go, send, drive, or distribute in different directions or over a wide area. 2 a intr. (of people at a meeting etc). leave and go their various ways. b tr cause to do this. c tr hist. drive Aborigines from their traditional land; exterminate.

First Nations (Australia): the peoples, and their descendants, who belong to the many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Nations that existed for thousands of years before the arrival of the British First Fleet in 1788. ‘First Nations’ is a term that is widely used in Canada and the United States to denote the original inhabitants of those countries.

First Peoples (Australia): https://aiatsis.gov.au/explore/australias-first-peoples, see also: https://www.stylemanual.gov.au/accessible-and-inclusive-content/inclusive-language/aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander-peoples

frontier n. 1. the part of a country which borders another country; boundary; border, extreme limit 

genocide n. extermination of a national or racial group as a planned move

indigenous adj. originating in or characterising a particular region or country; native …

Indigenous adj. of or relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people[s] …

invasion n. 1. the act of invading or entering as an enemy … 3. entrance as if to take possession or overrun.

massacre n. & v. 1. a general slaughter (of persons, occasionally of animals) 2. an utter defeat or destruction .v.tr. 1 make a massacre of 2. murder (esp. of a large number of people) cruelly or violently

native adj. 1. being the place or environment in which one was born or a thing came into being: one’s native land. … 3. a. Indigenous … b. being or related to those descended from the original inhabitants of a country as distinguished from its colonisers … 5. Belonging or related to one by reason of one’s birthplace or nationality: one’s native language. 6. born in a particular place or country … 12. belonging to someone as a possession by virtue of their birth: native rights. –n. someone inhabiting a place before the arrival of colonisers, etc., or a descendant of an original inhabitant; an indigenous person …

Red coat or Redcoat, n. hist. a British soldier, (so called from the scarlet uniform of most regiments). Read more on Wikipedia at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_coat_(military_uniform)

settle v. …5.a. to furnish (a place) with inhabitants or settlers: the north side of the river was soon settled. b. to provide a place to live: he settled two of his sons across the river.[2]

settler n. 1. someone who settles in a new country, especially one who is freeborn and who takes up portions of the land for agriculture.

terra nullius* n. 1. uninhabited territory, belonging to no state. 2. inhabited territory belonging to no state, and not held to be a state in itself, that is, having a population without a formalised political organisation or system of individual land ownership.[3]

Torres Strait n. a stretch of water extending between Cape York Peninsula, Queensland, Australia and Papua New Guinea’s southern coast [named after Luis Váez de Torres].

Torres Strait Islands plural noun. a number of islands located in Torres Strait, inhabited by people of Melanesian origin.
– Torres Strait Islander n. adj. See also: https://www.stylemanual.gov.au/accessible-and-inclusive-content/inclusive-language/aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander-peoples

War n. 1. a conflict carried out by force of arms, as between nations or states, or between parties within a state; warfare (by land, sea, or in the air). 2. a contest carried on by force of arms; as in a series of battles or campaigns. 3. active hostility or contention; conflict; contest: a war of words. 4. armed fighting, as a department of activity, a profession, or an art: war is our business – verb transitive (warred, warring). 5. To make or carry on war; fight. 6. To carry on active hostility or contention: to war with evil. 7. To be in a state of strong opposition: the two political parties are constantly warring over the economy. –adj. 8. of, belonging to, used in, or due to, war.– phrase 9. at war. in a state of hostility or active military operations. 10. In the wars. Colloquial involved in a series of misfortunes or minor injuries. [Middle English from Old French from Old High German: strife]