The word aboriginal is from the Latin word aborigines which roughly translates to “original inhabitants.”
It’s made up of the prefix ‘ab’ (which usually means “away” or “away from” but also more generally “from” in the sense of the word “of”) and the root ‘origines’ (which is the root word for “original.” So it literally means “from the original.”
white_shades t1_ja59mh5 wrote
Reply to ELI5: Why are native Australians called Aboriginals when in English the prefix "a" usually means "not"- ex Abnormal, atypical, etc? by Invisible_Swan
The word aboriginal is from the Latin word aborigines which roughly translates to “original inhabitants.”
It’s made up of the prefix ‘ab’ (which usually means “away” or “away from” but also more generally “from” in the sense of the word “of”) and the root ‘origines’ (which is the root word for “original.” So it literally means “from the original.”