lubra

Definition

A female Aboriginal Australian.

Etymology

Derived from the word for wife or woman in the Nuenonne language, an Indigenous language of southern Tasmania.

Example Sentences

• "At about 100 yards distant I saw a large fire and it immediaterly occurred to me that his wife was dead and that the fire was the funeral pile of his deceased wife. I asked him where his lubra was and he said lubra logerna unee (dead in the fire)."
• "Mr. Foelsche's reports show how, at Port Essington, the men will barter their lubras, and everything they possess, for square gin; and, in the south, restrictions have had to be placed upon the publicans to prevent them selling drink to the few natives that remain."
• "We went into the house and Roy called out, “Alice, boil ’im billy, make some tea,” and a few minutes later a comely young lubra appeared, a huge teapot in one hand and a plate with a big brownie on it."