lubra

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   dated and offensive Australian term for an Aboriginal Australian woman

   The editor retained lubra in the colonial-era quotation but clearly labelled the word as offensive.

Borrowed in colonial Australian English from a word for 'woman' or 'wife' in Nuenonne, an Indigenous language of southern Tasmania. The term spread through settler usage and became a racial slur; it is now retained chiefly when quoting or discussing historical language.

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