Meanings
- AustraliaNew ZealandBritain, England, London, or Ireland; the Old Country.
J. A. W. has still, I am persuaded, any amount of friends in the Old Dart.
1872, Pen-name Auld Lang Syne, Original Correspondence, Ovens and Murray Advertiser, Beechworth, Victoria, 20 July 1872, page 24 more examples
You recollect that when I left the Colony to visit the old dart, besides the usual allowance granted...
1876, Magguffin, Random Notes, Oamaru Mail, 24 June 1876, page 2The ‘Old Dart’ mattered little to German Australians but the empire was another matter and Australia was their home.
2003, John Williams, German Anzacs And The First World War, page 9‘I have a whole range of new talents, Dad. I can muster a mob of cattle, break in a horse, speak pidgin, and at a pinch, stitch up someone′s head.’ ‘Very useful in the Old Dart,’ he commented dryly and returned to his newspaper.
2003, Di Morrissey, Barra Creek, published 2010, page 432Marsh′s experiences during his first days in the Old Dart were no different from most Australian cricketers′.
2004, Mark Browning, Rod Marsh: A Life in Cricket, page 55Synonyms: the old country
- UKcolloquialgovernmentDartmouth Royal Navy College.
Synonyms & antonyms
proper nounBritain, England, London, or Ireland; the Old Country.
Origin
Possibly from the river Dart in Devonshire which enters the sea at Dartmouth, location of a Royal Navy College. Royal Navy officers who were returning to England at the end of a foreign tour of duty referred to going back to the "Old Dart" for further training. Alternatively a variation of "old dirt" (compare old sod).
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
Old Dart. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Old%20Dart
“Old Dart.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Old%20Dart. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Old Dart,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Old%20Dart.
Source: Old Dart on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.