Australia
/ɒˈstreɪ.li.ə/noun
The world's smallest continent and a country in the Southern Hemisphere.
Did you know?The name comes from the old idea of Terra Australis, a hypothetical southern continent imagined by ancient and medieval geographers long before Europeans confirmed Australia existed.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*h₂ews-
“to shine, dawn”
Latin
Latin
auster
“the south wind; south”
Late Latin
Latin
austrālis
“southern”
Medieval Latin
Latin
Terra Australis
“the hypothetical southern land”
16th–17th Century
English
Australia
“a name used for the imagined southern continent”
Early 19th Century
English
Australia
“the name adopted for the continent and later the country”
Explore more surprising origins