boomerang English · revision 1924

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈbuːməɹæŋ/ ''(UK)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It was adopted from an Aboriginal language of New South Wales, Australia;^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) the AHD, Merriam-Webster and Random House name it as Dharuk, the language of the Port Jackson area, with the form ''bumariny''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) A form ''wo-mur-rang'' was recorded in a glossary of Port Jackson words in 1798.^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A curved wooden throwing weapon of the Australian Aborigines (1825 in Merriam-Webster, 1827 in Barnhart and Etymonline).^(MW Collegiate)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(AHD)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The AHD's note quotes the first recorded English form, from 1825, describing a weapon that the natives of Port Jackson threw with a spinning motion.^(AHD) The verb, to throw a boomerang, dates from 1880,^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) and the figurative sense of flying back to the starting point from 1900.^(Etymonline) From the returning weapon came the sense of a statement or plan that backfires on its author.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1798 – ''wo-mur-rang'' in a Port Jackson glossary.^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1825 – ''boomerang'' first recorded (AHD, Merriam-Webster).^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ * 1880 – verb, to throw a boomerang.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1900 – verb, figurative, to come back to the starting point.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A flat, curved throwing stick, especially one designed to return to the thrower.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A statement or course of action that [[backfire|alt=backfires]] on its originator.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To have the opposite effect from the one intended; to backfire.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To come back or return, like a boomerang.^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[kangaroo]]

+ * [[dingo]]

+ * [[backfire]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}