bora

plural boras · alternative Bora

1. An initiation ceremony for males among the Aboriginal people of New South Wales.

   Birribirai, a youth not yet admitted to a bora.

   1873, William Ridley, “Report on Australian Languages and Traditions”, in The Journal of the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, volume 2

   2 more examples

   By far the most important among the ceremonies practised by the aborigines of New South Wales is the Bora, at which youths are initiated to manhood...

   1885, A. L. P. Cameron, “Notes on some Tribes of New South Wales”, in The Journal of the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, volume 14

   Then dancing out into the open he sparred round like a star performer in a Bora ceremony.

   1911, ‘Steel Rudd’, The Book of Dan, Brisbane: University of Queensland Press, published 1970, page 21

   Synonyms: burbung

1. A cold, often dry, northeasterly wind which blows, sometimes in violent gusts, down from mountains on the eastern shore of the Adriatic Sea. It also applies to cold, squally, downslope winds in other parts of the world.

   When the bora blew down from the mountains, announcing the winter, would he ride it on out of town?

   2006, Thomas Pynchon, Against the Day, Vintage, published 2007, page 650

1. pluralplural onlyAn indigenous tribe of the Peruvian, Colombian and Brazilian Amazon.

1. A language spoken in Colombia and Peru.

plural Boras

1. alternativeIslamAlternative form of Bohra.

plural Boras

1. A surname.