The story
- Eastern Arrernte · calque ofAltyerrenge“the Dreaming”
- 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.