Where does the term 'aboriginal' come from?

Answer 1

Aboriginal means, literally, from [ab] the beginning [origin]. It refers to the first people, or the first flora & fauna to exist in a given area. The Aboriginal peoples of Australia are a good example; they are the first people to occupy the continent of Australia, with continuous and probably un-mixed descent from very roughly 60,000 to 100,000 years ago. The use of this term to describe the original settlers of Australia is going out of favor and is being replaced with the term "indigenous people".