Another variant spelling of 'bilby,' a small furry marsupial native to Australia with long ears and a striped tail.
Variant spelling of 'bilby' from Australian Aboriginal languages, possibly Nyungar. Different European settlers spelled Aboriginal words differently, leading to multiple variant spellings in English.
The fact that bilbies have multiple English spellings shows how Aboriginal words were filtered through European ears and spelling conventions—'bilbi,' 'bilbie,' and 'bilby' are all ways English speakers wrote down the same Australian animal.
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