Dictionary

waratah en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˈwɔːɹətɑː/ (UK)
• /ˈwɔɹəˌtɐː/ (Australia)
• /ˌwɒɹəˈtɑː/ (UK)

Etymology

Borrowed from Dharug warada.

Meanings

1. Any of several species of plants in the genus Telopea, native to southeastern Australia.
   • There are many legends concerning the waratah--Australia's most glorious flower and all her own, for it does not occur in any other part of the world, while its supposed rival, the wattle, is as common in all parts of the Southern Hemisphere as it is in Australia. 1925, C. W. Peck, Australian Legends: Tales Handed Down from the Remotest Times by the Autocthonous Inhabitants of Our Land:
   • Acacias in blossom in the distance […]; leafy stipple of light and shade on the leaves, vivid flowers and bitter little fruits, and the waratah, like a blackfellow's firestick, red as a glowing coal. 1941, Ernestine Hill, My Love Must Wait, A&R Classics, published 2013, page 156:
2. A Y-shaped steel fencing post or stake.
   • At intervals of half a chain along each cable, 6 ft waratah Y section standards are driven at an angle into the bank to within a few inches of ground level, and the cables secured to them with No. 8 gauge galvanised wire. 1968, Albert Robert Acheson, River Control and Drainage in New Zealand: And Some Comparisons with Overseas Practices, page 65:

Forms