billabong

US /ˈbɪləˌbɔŋ/ UK /ˈbɪləbɒŋ/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

noun
an Australian backwater or stagnant pool left by a river

Swagmen camped beside the shady billabong.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · an australian backwater or... backwater poolwaterholelagoon

Simplified etymology

Billabong is an Indigenous Australian word, recorded in the mid-19th century. It was originally a New South Wales place name meaning a creek containing water only after rain, and was later generalized to similar bodies of water.

Etymology

From Wiradjuri (an Australian Aboriginal language) bilabaŋ, perhaps from bila ('river') + a suffix; borrowed into Australian English in the 19th century.

bilabaŋ Wiradjuri

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Nature & Landscape

External links

# billabong

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈbɪləˌbɔŋ/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈbɪləbɒŋ/

## Meanings
1. an Australian backwater or stagnant pool left by a river

## Examples
- Swagmen camped beside the shady billabong.

## Synonyms
- backwater
- pool
- waterhole
- lagoon

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: bilabaŋ

## Etymology
From Wiradjuri (an Australian Aboriginal language) bilabaŋ, perhaps from bila ('river') + a suffix; borrowed into Australian English in the 19th century.

## AI Etymology
Billabong comes from Wiradjuri (an Australian Aboriginal language) bilabaŋ, perhaps from bila ('river') + a suffix; borrowed into Australian English in the 19th century. The historical trail runs through bilabaŋ in Wiradjuri. Morphologically, billabong is transparent: it draws on Wiradjuri (an Australian Aboriginal language) bilabaŋ, perhaps from bila ('river') + a suffix. Used as a noun, billabong now means "an Australian backwater or stagnant pool left by a river", so the present definition can be read against the older forms and meanings. The result is a borrowed or transmitted form whose modern spelling carries a compact record of its route into English.

## Topics
- Nature & Landscape

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