aboriginal Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a dark-skinned member of a race of people living in Australia when Europeans arrived
    Aborigine; Australian Aborigine; native Australian; Abo.
  2. noun an indigenous person who was born in a particular place
    indigen; indigene; aborigine; native.
    • the art of the natives of the northwest coast
    • the Canadian government scrapped plans to tax the grants to aboriginal college students
  3. adjective of or pertaining to members of the indigenous people of Australia
    • an Aboriginal rite
  4. adjective characteristic of or relating to people inhabiting a region from the beginning
    native.
    • native Americans
    • the aboriginal peoples of Australia
  5. adjective satellite having existed from the beginning; in an earliest or original stage or state
    primaeval; primal; primordial; primeval.
    • aboriginal forests
    • primal eras before the appearance of life on earth
    • the forest primeval
    • primordial matter
    • primordial forms of life

WordNet

Ab`o*rig"i*nal adjective
Etymology
See Aborigines.
Definitions
  1. First; original; indigenous; primitive; native; as, the aboriginal tribes of America. "Mantled o'er with aboriginal turf." Wordsworth.
  2. Of or pertaining to aborigines; as, a Hindoo of aboriginal blood.
Ab`o*rig"i*nal noun
Definitions
  1. An original inhabitant of any land; one of the aborigines.
  2. An animal or a plant native to the region.
    It may well be doubted whether this frog is an aboriginal of these islands. Darwin.

Webster 1913