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In common usage, this term refers specifically to a descendant of the original inhabitants of Australia or of Taiwan. (Note that this usage may be seen as derogatory by the subject.) 'Aboriginal' however can be used as a term to refer to any original or first nation.
The first group named Aborigines were a mythical people of central Italy, connected in legendary history with Aeneas, Latinus, and Evander. They were said to have descended from their mountain home near Reate (an ancient Sabine town) upon Latium, whence they expelled the Siceli and subsequently settled down as Latini under a King Latinus.
The most generally accepted etymology of the name (ab origine), according to which they were the original inhabitants (the Greek autochthones) of the country, is inconsistent with the fact that the oldest authorities (e.g. Cato in his Origines) regarded them as Hellenic immigrants, not as a native Italian people. Other explanations suggested are arborigines, "tree-born," and aberrigines, "nomads."
Many Aboriginal races have been the object of Genocide.