Bombora
WiktionaryText
Etymology
From an Australian Aboriginal word bumbora which is a current off Dobroyd Head in Port Jackson. (Reference: Sidney J. Baker, The Australian Language, second edition, 1966, chapter XV section 3, page 321. Baker doesn't record which Aboriginal language the word is from, presumably the local people of that location.)
Noun
- A shallow isolated piece of reef located a distance offshore.
- 1933: 'Bombora' is an aboriginal word applied to the high-crested wave which breaks ... over submerged rocks near the coastline. — The Bulletin magazine, 27 May 1933, page 24. Quoted in G. A. Wilkes, A Dictionary of Australian Colloquialisms, second edition, 1985, Sydney University Press, ISBN 0-424-00113-6.