Where "Mallee" Comes From
Photo by B 897, Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
"Mallee" comes from a Victorian Aboriginal language (sources name Wemba Wemba and Woiwurrung), describing small eucalyptus species adapted to fire and drought.
Its massive underground woody root system â known as a "mallee root" â allows the plant to resprout after fire or other damage. Mallee roots have long been used as firewood.
“The tractor worked hard clearing the roots across the sandy paddocks of the Victorian Mallee.”
How Aussies Actually Use It
Gave its name to "The Mallee" â an iconic agricultural and wilderness district spanning parts of Victoria and South Australia.
Also famous in the slang term "mallee bull" (as in "strong as a mallee bull", first recorded in 1879).
ð Sources & Further Reading
- Borrowings from Aboriginal Languages â Australian National Dictionary Centre, ANU
- List of English words of Australian Aboriginal origin — Wikipedia
- mallee - Australian National Dictionary Centre (M)
- Mallee (habit) - Wikipedia
Part of our Aboriginal Loanwords collection →
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