Billabong ( ) is an Australian term for an

oxbow lake An oxbow lake is a U-shaped lake or pool that forms when a wide meander of a river is cut off, creating a free-standing body of water. In South Texas, oxbows left by the Rio Grande are called '' resacas''. In Australia, oxbow lakes are call ...

, an isolated pond left behind after a river changes course. Billabongs are usually formed when the path of a creek or

river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of ...

changes, leaving the former branch with a dead end. As a result of the arid Australian climate in which these "dead rivers" are often found, billabongs fill with water seasonally but can be dry for a greater part of the year.

Etymology

The etymology of the word ''billabong'' is disputed. The word is most likely derived from the

Wiradjuri The Wiradjuri people (; ) are a group of Aboriginal Australian people from central New South Wales, united by common descent through kinship and shared traditions. They survived as skilled hunter-fisher-gatherers, in family groups or clans, a ...

term ''bilabaŋ'', which means "a watercourse that runs only after rain". It is derived from ''bila'', meaning "river", It may have been combined with ''bong'' or ''bung'', meaning "dead". One source, however, claims that the term is of

Scottish Gaelic Scottish Gaelic ( gd, Gàidhlig ), also known as Scots Gaelic and Gaelic, is a Goidelic language (in the Celtic branch of the Indo-European language family) native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a Goidelic language, Scottish Gaelic, as well as ...

origin. Billabongs were significant because they held water longer than parts of rivers; it was important for people to identify and name these areas.Clarke, R. "Australianisms in 'Waltzing Matilda'"
Xamax Consultancy Pty Ltd, 10 December 2003. Last accessed 23 February 2018.

References in Australian culture

In literature

* Banjo Paterson's popular song "

Waltzing Matilda "Waltzing Matilda" is a song developed in the Australian style of poetry and folk music called a bush ballad. It has been described as the country's "unofficial national anthem". The title was Australian slang for travelling on foot (waltzing) ...

" is set beside a billabong. * Mary Grant Bruce wrote a series of books, known as '' The Billabong Series'', depicting the adventures of the Linton family, who live at Billabong station from around 1911 until the late 1920s.

In art

Both

Aboriginal Australians Aboriginal Australians are the various Indigenous peoples of the Australian mainland and many of its islands, such as Tasmania, Fraser Island, Hinchinbrook Island, the Tiwi Islands, and Groote Eylandt, but excluding the Torres Strait ...

and

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

an artists use billabongs as subject matter in painting. For example, Aboriginal painter

Tjyllyungoo Tjyllyungoo is the traditional name of the landscape painter Lance Chadd, a Noongar man from Western Australia. Tjyllyungoo's paintings are internationally recognised and held in a number of collections. Born in 1954, he grew up in the south-wes ...

(Lance Chad) has a watercolour entitled ''Trees at a billabong''. American

avant-garde The avant-garde (; In 'advance guard' or ' vanguard', literally 'fore-guard') is a person or work that is experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society.John Picchione, The New Avant-garde in Italy: Theoretica ...

filmmaker

Will Hindle Will may refer to: Common meanings * Will and testament, instructions for the disposition of one's property after death * Will (philosophy), or willpower * Will (sociology) * Will, volition (psychology) * Will, a modal verb - see Shall and will ...

produced a short film titled ''Billabong'' in 1969.

In commerce

Billabong is the name of an Australian brand of sportswear for surf, skateboard, and snowboard.

References

External links

{{commons category inline, Billabongs of Australia Australian English Lakes * Fluvial landforms