Quinkann.
/ˈkwɪŋkən/, U.S. /ˈkwɪŋkən/, Australian English /ˈkwɪŋkən/ Australian.
1. A spirit of a type depicted in Australian Aboriginal rock paintings of northern Queensland.
ΚΠ
1918 Bulletin 17 Oct. 24/2 Carpet-snake..is a delicacy that the gins and juvenile members are forbidden to eat lest the curse of ‘quinken’ (devil-devil) should befall them.
1969 P. J. Trezise Quinkan Country 142 Willy fell asleep still imploring the Quinkans not to come back and harm us.
2004 Cairns Post (Austral.) (Nexis) 17 Apr. (Weekender section) 57 Suddenly, from out of nowhere, up pops the towering, evil-looking Quinkan, a bad spirit.
2. Chiefly attributive. The type of rock painting associated with depictions of these spirits.
ΚΠ
1969 P. J. Trezise Quinkan Country 140 I was anxious to get Willy into the hills to see the Quinkan galleries, so we shifted camp to our old site on the Laura River.
1982 R. M. Berndt et al. Aboriginal Austral. Art 149 The paintings belong to what has been called the ‘Quinkin’ tradition because many concern spirits known by this general term.
2002 J. Bindloss et al. Queensland (Lonely Planet) (ed. 3) 429 Quinkan is one of the great art styles of northern Australia.
2003 M. J. Norwood Visions from Past ii. 47 Despite the spectacular nature of many Quinkan paintings, they can be categorized as crudely naturalistic.
This is a new entry (OED Third Edition, December 2007; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1918