Words & TermsEveryday life
cooee
Also: coo-ee
A long, carrying call used to attract attention over distance.
In a sentence
A cooee from the ridge told us the walkers had found the track.
Where it came from
Cooee comes from gawi or guwi, meaning come here in the Aboriginal Sydney Language. Settlers adopted the distance call early in the colonial period; a published description appeared in 1827.
- First recorded
- 1827
- Initial era
- 1800–1849
- Where used
- Australia-wide