Van Diemen's Land

English

Etymology

After the Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies Anthony van Diemen, who sent Abel Tasman on the voyage on which Tasman discovered the island.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /væn ˈdiːmənz ˌlænd/

Proper noun

Van Diemen's Land

1. The former name (until 1856) of the then-British colony and current state of Australia now known as Tasmania.
   • 1726 October 28, [Jonathan Swift], “The Author Gives Some Account of Himself and Family, His First Inducements to Travel. […]”, in Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World. […] [Gulliver’s Travels], volume I, London: […] Benj[amin] Motte, […], →OCLC, part I (A Voyage to Lilliput), page 5:

     Let it ſuffice to inform him, that in our Paſſage from thence to the Eaſt-Indies, we were driven by a violent Storm to the Northweſt of Van Diemen's Land.

Related terms

• Vandemonian

Translations

former name of Tasmania

• Finnish: Van Diemenin maa
• French: please add this translation if you can
• German: please add this translation if you can
• Hungarian: Van Diemen-föld
• Polish: Ziemia van Diemena (pl) f
• Portuguese: Terra de Van Diemen f