The City of Sydney has rewritten the history books, with "European arrival" wiped from official documents and replaced with "invasion".

City officials declared the arrival of white settlers in 1978 an invasion, after its Aboriginal advisory panel threatened to quit if the word was omitted from official documents.

The divisive issue came to air after Lord Mayor Clover Moore tried to remove the word "invasion", in an attempt to heal a rift among a group of six that controls the council's numbers.

In a lengthy debate, Deputy Mayor Marcelle Hoff argued the term appropriate to the context should be "invasion or illegal colonisation".

She supported her position by reading out dictionary definitions of invasion as "to take possession, to penetrate, to intrude upon, to overrun".

Cr Moore admitted she had underestimated the emotional depth of the matter.

"I have heard from the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Advisory Panel, and members of the Aboriginal community, that what happened in 1788 is described as an invasion," she was quoted as saying by Fairfax.

Philip Black, the member of Cr Moore group who raised initial objections to the term stood his ground.

He told the council the word was "divisive" and "counter-productive" to reconciliation.

"I believe the use of that word has served its useful life and it's time to move on…the City of Sydney, I don't believe should continue to use the term in our official documents," Cr Black reportedly said.

His voice went unheard, when a vote on the issue was won 7-2, with only Liberal Councillor Shayne Mallard supporting his view.

The new Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Statement reads:

"In 1788, the British established a convict outpost on the shores of Sydney Harbour.

"This had far reaching and devastating impact on the Eora Nation, including the occupation and appropriation of traditional lands.

"Despite the destructive impact of this invasion, Aboriginal culture endured and is now globally recognised as one of the world's oldest cultures."