Boomerang - Etymology

Etymology

The origin of the term is uncertain, and many researchers have different theories on how the word entered the English vocabulary. One source asserts that the term entered the language in 1827, adapted from an extinct Aboriginal language of New South Wales, Australia, but mentions a variant, wo-mur-rang, which it dates from 1798. The boomerang was first encountered by western people at Farm Cove (Port Jackson), Australia, in December 1804 where its use as a weapon was witnessed during a tribal skirmish:

...the white spectators were justly astonished at the dexterity and incredible force with which a bent, edged waddy resembling slightly a turkish scimytar, was thrown by Bungary, a native distinguished by his remarkable courtesy. The weapon, thrown at 20 or 30 yards distance, twirled round in the air with astonishing velocity, and alighting on the right arm of one of his opponents, actually rebounded to a distance not less than 70 or 80 yards, leaving a horrible contusion behind, and exciting universal admiration. —final paragraph on page; archaic language reinterpreted here

David Collins listed "Wo-mur-rāng" as one of eight aboriginal "Names of clubs" in 1798. A 1790 anonymous manuscript on aboriginal languages of New South Wales reported "Boo-mer-rit" as "the Scimiter".

In 1822 it was described in detail and recorded as a "bou-mar-rang", in the language of the Turuwal people (a sub-group of the Dharug) of the Georges River near Port Jackson. The Turnawal used other words for their hunting sticks but used "boomerang" to refer to a returning throw-stick. They were also mistakenly referred to as a woomerang, in confusion with the spear-thrower woomera.