Gibbergunyah

/ˌɡɪbərˈɡʌnjə/ noun

Definition

An Australian Aboriginal shelter or hut, especially a temporary one made of branches and bark.

Etymology

From Australian Aboriginal languages (possibly from Dharug 'gunyah' meaning shelter), combined with 'gibber' (rocky ground or stone), reflecting shelters built on stony ground or using stone.

Kelly Says

This wonderfully obscure word preserves early colonial descriptions of Aboriginal architecture—it's a linguistic fossil showing how English settlers tried to describe indigenous building techniques by mashing together two words they half-understood from different Aboriginal languages!

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