An Australian Aboriginal celebration or ceremony involving music, dancing, and festive gathering; also, any noisy gathering or commotion.
From Australian Aboriginal languages, likely Dharug 'corroboree.' The word entered English in the late 1700s through British colonization of Australia and remains one of the most recognized Aboriginal loanwords.
When early British colonists first heard about corroborees, they thought they were just wild parties, but they were actually sophisticated cultural ceremonies with complex music and stories—showing how outsiders sometimes miss the deeper meaning of what they see.
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