jackeroon.
/ˌdʒakəˈruː/, U.S. /ˌdʒækəˈru/, Australian English /ˌdʒækəˈruː/ Originally and chiefly Australian colloquial.† 1. Originally in Australian Aboriginal usage: a white man living outside a settlement. Obsolete.
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1840 O. Gorman Let. to Colonial Secretary 30 Mar. (State Rec. New S. Wales, NRS 905 [4/2539.2, no. 41/2553]) in Austral. Nat. Dict. (2016) at Jackeroo He said the jackaroos (meaning the missionaries) had fired upon him and others.
1849 Bell's Life in Sydney 28 Apr. 3/3 Defending the Character of Two Young Ladies who have been grossly insulted in Sydney by an Aristocratical, Jackaroo Squatter of Moreton Bay.
1853 H. B. Jones Adventures in Aust. 210 Here and there you may notice a squatter, or as they are called by Sydneyites, a ‘Jacky Rue’, who has ridden from Wellington or Bathurst, or perhaps five or six hundred miles, to have an interview with his merchant or agent.
1875 J. Campbell & W. Wilks Early Settlem. Queensland 18 A black-fellow..warned me..that their intention was..to starve the ‘jackaroos’ (strangers).
1888 H. S. Russell Genesis of Queensland xi. 207 Limestone in 1840..stands out as the handselled resting-place for the ‘jackeroos’! By this wild name the ‘jumped up’ white men beyond the range had been reported by the blacks from tribe to tribe.
2. Originally: a young man (usually British and of independent means) seeking to gain experience by working in a supernumerary capacity on a sheep or cattle station (now historical). Subsequently: a person working on a sheep or cattle station with a view to acquiring the practical experience and management skills desirable in a station owner or manager. Cf. jillaroo n., colonial experience n. 2.In New Zealand more usually called a cadet (cadet n.1 4).
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the world > food and drink > farming > farmer > [noun] > inexperienced or book-farmer
book-farmer1770
jackeroo1864
the world > people > nations > native or inhabitant of Antipodes > native or inhabitant of Australia > [noun] > of English origin
sterling1827
lime-juicer1859
jackeroo1864
pomegranate1912
the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > [noun] > stock-farmer > worker
stockman1806
ranchero1825
ranchman1854
bush-hand1863
station hand1863
jackeroo1864
boundary-rider1865
bush-rider1883
ringer1909
bush-worker1936
stock-boy1937
jillaroo1945
1864 Brisbane Courier 7 July 2/5 The jackaroo..exclaimed, ‘..I have ridden steeple-chases before to-day; I once followed the Melton hounds.’
1870 ‘Jackaroo’ Immigration Question 5 A philanthropic friend got me upon an inland station as a ‘jackaroo’, and a jackaroo I shall remain to the end.
1885 H. Finch-Hatton Advance Australia! 85 Before starting on their own account to work a station, they go into the bush to gain colonial experience, during which process they are known in the colony as ‘jackaroos’.
1911 C. E. W. Bean ‘Dreadnought’ of Darling xi. 99 In the bachelors' quarters there will probably live..one or two ‘jackeroos’—young Australians, or sometimes young Englishmen, learning the work of a sheep run by taking an ordinary part in it.
1936 I. L. Idriess Cattle King xxxii. 287 Some of the blacks told me he was coming with a couple of young jackeroos.
1968 TV Times (Austral.) 28 Aug. 30/1 The jackaroo is..an apprentice to the rural industry, and in theory is in training to become a manager or owner.
2000 Land (N. Richmond, New S. Wales) 1 June (Trader section) 10/2 (advt.) The successful applicant will be required to cook for seven jackeroos, as well as maintaining the quarters.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2018; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
jackeroov.
/ˌdʒakəˈruː/, U.S. /ˌdʒækəˈru/, Australian English /ˌdʒækəˈruː/ Originally and chiefly Australian colloquial.
intransitive. To work as a jackeroo (jackeroo n. 2); to acquire experience and skills by working on a sheep or cattle station.
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the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > rear animals [verb (intransitive)] > work on stock farm
jackeroo1867
jillaroo1970
1867 Queensland Times 28 Dec. 3/2 When I war a shepherding on the Barcoo there came up to our station a regular swell cove to jackeroo there for a while.
1886 Darling Downs Gaz. (Toowoomba, Queensland) 13 Sept. Jackarooed on Dangar's stations in New England.
1890 ‘Tasma’ In her Earliest Youth 152 There's nothing for them to do but to go and jackaroo up in Queensland.
1911 C. E. W. Bean ‘Dreadnought’ of Darling xxxiv. 302 A houseful of bachelors—three or four young fellows jackerooing (that is to say, learning colonial experience) under a bachelor manager.
1967 Coast to Coast 1965–6 161 Young and old..jackerooed for thirty bob and tucker.
2012 Daily Tel. 5 July 29/3 For the next few years he jackarooed on ranches, tried a bit of orange-picking, sold encyclopaedias door-to-door and worked for a stocking station agency.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2018; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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n.1840v.1867