Word.ws English Dictionary

balanda

balanda noun: a white person, a European.

Noun

balanda (plural balandas or balanda)

  1. (Australian Aboriginal, Arnhem Land) A white person, a European.
    • They knew the white people of Victoria, and called them Balanda, which is nothing more than ‘Hollanders’; a name used by the Malays, from whom they received it.1845, Ludwig Leichhardt, Journal of an Overland Expedition in Australia
    • The blacks rushed up to the house calling ‘Ballanda, Ballanda’—white man—and the Boss and Missus ran out.1915, E. R. Masson, Untamed Territory

Examples of balanda in a sentence

  • Then I understood that this ‘balanda’ means people with skins like the white clay.1978, J. Mirritji, My People’s Life:
  • That’s the only road back for them […] to be rid of all your partonising, domineering balanda ways.1987, G. Francis, God’s Best Country:
  • If Aborigine e says something ... e want to stop im Balanda ... e might listen.1989, B. Neidjie, Story About Feeling:
  • There are a lot of fans both balanda white and yolngu (east Arnhem Land Aborigines).1993 January 28, Canberra Times,:

Synonyms of balanda

Forms of balanda

pluralbalandas
pluralbalanda
alternative formballanda
alternative formballander

Origin of balanda

From Dhuwal balanda, from Makasar Balanda, from Malay Belanda, from Portuguese Holanda. Doublet of Holland.

Questions about balanda

What does balanda mean?
Balanda means a white person, a European.
How do you use balanda in a sentence?
Then I understood that this ‘balanda’ means people with skins like the white clay.
What part of speech is balanda?
Balanda is a noun.
What is the plural of balanda?
The plural of balanda is balandas.

Words near balanda in the dictionary

  1. balancing out
  2. balancing the books
  3. balancing the sheets
  4. balancing the ticket
  5. balancings
  6. balanda
  7. balandas
  8. balander
  9. balanders
  10. balandra
  11. Balandran

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: balanda (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “balanda.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/balanda. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.