Editing Boomerang (section)

==Etymology==
The origin of the term is uncertain, although it is known to be Australian.<ref name=anu>{{cite web | title=Meanings and origins of Australian words and idioms | website=[[ANU]]. School of Literature, Languages and Linguistics | date=19 October 2017 | url=https://slll.cass.anu.edu.au/centres/andc/meanings-origins/b | access-date=15 May 2025}}</ref>  

[[David Collins (lieutenant governor)|David Collins]] listed "Wo-mur-rāng" as one of eight Aboriginal "Names of clubs" in 1798.<ref>{{cite book |chapter-url= https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/12565 |title= An Account of the English Colony in New South Wales |last= Collins |first= David |year= 1798 |chapter= Appendix XII (Language) |page= 554 |access-date= 28 August 2020 |archive-date= 31 August 2020 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20200831041637/http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/12565 |url-status= live}}</ref> but was probably referring to the [[Woomera (spear-thrower)|woomera]], which is actually a [[spear]]-thrower. An anonymous 1790 [[manuscript]] on Aboriginal languages of New South Wales reported "Boo-mer-rit" as "the Scimiter".<ref>[http://www.hrelp.org/dawes/img/Boo-mer-rit.gif Image of handwritten note]. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091014210056/http://www.hrelp.org/dawes/img/Boo-mer-rit.gif |date=14 October 2009}}, in [http://www.hrelp.org/dawes/ The notebooks of William Dawes on the Aboriginal language of Sydney]. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091017022512/http://www.hrelp.org/dawes/ |date=17 October 2009}}. [http://www.hrelp.org/ The Hans Rausing Endangered Languages Project]. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120729162403/http://www.hrelp.org/ |date=29 July 2012}}.</ref> 

The first written record of a boomerang's return flight was made by a French-born [[Ensign (rank)|ensign]] of the [[New South Wales Corps]], Francis Louis Barrallier in November, 1802, but there had been reports of boomerangs in action by colonist of Sydney in the first few years of the colony.<ref name=butz2003/> At [[Farm Cove, New South Wales|Farm Cove]] ([[Port Jackson]]), in December 1804, a weapon was witnessed during a tribal [[Skirmisher|skirmish]], as recorded in the ''[[Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser]]'':<ref name=SGNSWA-1804-12-23>{{cite news |title=The beginning of the week presented a native warfare&nbsp;... |date=23 December 1804 |newspaper=[[Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser]] |page=2, col.&nbsp;3, last&nbsp;¶ |via=National Library of Australia |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article626558 |access-date=3 March 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220409231412/https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/626558 |archive-date=9 April 2022}}</ref>
{{blockquote|... the white spectators were justly astonished at the dexterity and incredible force with which a bent, edged waddy resembling slightly a Turkish [[scimitar|scimytar]], was thrown by [[Bungaree|Bungary]], a native distinguished by his remarkable courtesy. The weapon, thrown at 20 or 30&nbsp;yards [18 or 27&nbsp;m] 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&nbsp;yards [64 or 73&nbsp;m], leaving a horrible contusion behind, and exciting universal admiration.}}

One source asserts that the term entered the language in 1827, adapted from an [[Australian Aboriginal languages|Aboriginal language]] of near [[Sydney]], [[New South Wales]], but mentions a variant, "wo-mur-rang", which it dates to 1798.<ref>{{cite dictionary |title=Boomerang |url=http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=boomerang&searchmode=none  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140304172808/http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=boomerang&searchmode=none |archive-date=4 March 2014 |dictionary=Online Etymology Dictionary}}</ref> In 1822, it was described in detail and recorded as a "bou-mar-rang" in the language of the [[Dharawal]] people (a sub-group of the [[Darug]]) of the [[Georges River]] near [[Port Jackson]]. The Dharawal used other words for their hunting sticks but used "boomerang" to refer to a returning [[Throwing stick|throw-stick]].<ref name=butz2003/><ref>{{cite journal|title= Boomerang, boomerang, thou spirit of Australia! |first =Frederick |last= Ludowyk| url=https://slll.cass.anu.edu.au/sites/default/files/andc/ozwords_oct09.pdf| journal= [[Ozwords]]| date=October 2009|volume= 18 |issue =2}}</ref> Similarly, other Aboriginal peoples used different words for [[throwing stick]]s (non-returning) and returning weapons.<ref name=butz2003/> The word was also spelt "bomerang", "bommerang", "bomring", "boomereng", "boomering", "bumerang", and other variants.<ref name=anu/>

The word was adopted into [[International English]], and also started to be used with a [[Figure of speech|figurative]] meaning. An early example of its adoption into [[American English]] is found in ''[[Boston Daily Advertiser]]'' in 1846. From the 1850s, it started to be used as a verb in Australian English.<ref name=anu/>