Walaru
/ˈwɒl.ə.ruː/noun
An alternative English spelling of wallaroo, a large kangaroo-like marsupial of Australia.
Did you know?Walaru is an Indigenous Australian loanword whose spelling survives in English alongside wallaroo, showing how Aboriginal vocabulary entered colonial natural-history writing.
Etymological Timeline
Before European contact
Dharug
walaru
“An Indigenous name associated with the wallaroo”
Late 18th Century
Australian Aboriginal languages
walaru
“A local term recorded by European settlers for the animal”
19th Century
Australian English
walaroo
“A wallaroo; an Australian kangaroo-like marsupial”
19th Century
English
wallaroo
“The established English spelling of the animal’s name”
Modern English
English
walaru
“A variant spelling of wallaroo”