Etymology

dreamtime

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Today it means: The time for dreaming. Full definition →

Eastern Arrernte Altyerrenge
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The story

  1. Eastern Arrernte · calque ofAltyerrenge“the Dreaming”
  2. English todayDreamtime

A false calque of Eastern Arrernte Altyerrenge (“the Dreaming”), based on the incorrect assumption that the word is related to altyerre (“a dream”) or altyerre areme (“to dream”). "-time" is an addition unrooted in Aboriginal language.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.