tjurunga
tjurunga noun: an object of religious significance among Aboriginal peoples of Central Australia.
Noun
tjurunga (plural tjurungas)
- An object of religious significance among Aboriginal peoples of Central Australia.
- A tjuringa is usually an oval-ended plaque, carved from stone or mulga wood, and covered with patterns which represent the wanderings of its owner's Dreamtime Ancestor.1987, Bruce Chatwin, The Songlines, Vintage, published 1998, page 43
- He was told that these three tjurunga were unique among the Loritja in thatthey were never painted with red ochre, but instead had to be refreshed with human blood at frequent intervals.2002, Victoria Finlay, Colour, Sceptre, page 58
Forms of tjurunga
| plural | tjurungas |
|---|---|
| alternative form | churinga |
| alternative form | tjuringa |
Origin of tjurunga
From Arrernte tywerrenge.
Questions about tjurunga
- What does tjurunga mean?
- Tjurunga means an object of religious significance among Aboriginal peoples of Central Australia.
- What part of speech is tjurunga?
- Tjurunga is a noun.
- What is the plural of tjurunga?
- The plural of tjurunga is tjurungas.
Words near tjurunga in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: tjurunga (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: “tjurunga.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/tjurunga. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.