Etymology koala

Etymology
The word koala comes from the Dharug gula, meaning no water. It was at one time thought, since the animals were not observed to come down from trees often, that they were able to survive without drinking. The leaves of the eucalyptus tree have a high water

content, so the koala does not need to drink often.[4] But the notion that they do not need to drink water at all was shown to be a myth.[5] Alt

hough the vowel ‘u’ was originally written in the English orthography as “oo” (in spellings such as coola or koolah), it was changed to “oa”, possibly in error.[6]

Adopted by white settlers, “koala” became one of several hundred Aboriginal loan words in Australian English, where it has also commonly been used

in the alternative form “koala bear”, because of the koala’s supposed resemblance to a bear.[7] It is also one of several Aboriginal words

that made it into International English, alongside e.g. “didgeridoo” and “kangaroo.”[7] The generic name, Phascolarctos, is derived from the Greek words phaskolos “pouch” and arktos “bear”. The specific name, cinereus, is Latin for “ash coloured”.[8]