Van Diemen's Land
English
editEtymology
editAfter the Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies Anthony van Diemen, who sent Abel Tasman on the voyage on which Tasman discovered the island.
Pronunciation
editProper noun
editVan Diemen's Land
- The former name (until 1856) of the then-British colony and current state of Australia now known as Tasmania.
- 1726 October 28, [Jonathan Swift], “The Author Gives Some Account of Himself and Family, His First Inducements to Travel. […]”, in Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World. […] [Gulliver’s Travels], volume I, London: […] Benj[amin] Motte, […], →OCLC, part I (A Voyage to Lilliput), page 5:
- Let it ſuffice to inform him, that in our Paſſage from thence to the Eaſt-Indies, we were driven by a violent Storm to the Northweſt of Van Diemen's Land.
Related terms
editTranslations
editformer name of Tasmania
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