Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Being such by birth or origin.
  • adjective Being a member of the original inhabitants of a particular place.
  • adjective Of, belonging to, or characteristic of such inhabitants.
  • adjective Being one's own because of the place or circumstances of one's birth.
  • adjective Originating, growing, or produced in a certain place or region; indigenous.
  • adjective Occurring in nature pure or uncombined with other substances.
  • adjective Existing in or belonging to one by nature; innate.
  • adjective Natural, unaltered, or unadorned.
  • adjective Biochemistry Of or relating to the naturally occurring conformation of a macromolecule, such as a protein.
  • adjective Archaic Closely related, as by birth or race.
  • noun One born in or connected with a place by birth.
  • noun One of the original inhabitants or lifelong residents of a place.
  • noun An animal or plant that originated in a particular place or region.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Peopled with natives or aborigines; not civilized: as, a native region; native country.
  • noun A name given in Australia to the schnapper, Pagrus unicolor, after it has ceased to school. Also called rock-native.
  • Coming into existence by birth; having an origin; born.
  • Born of one's self; own.
  • Of or pertaining to one by birth, or the place or circumstances of one's birth: as, native land; native language.
  • Of indigenous origin or growth; not exotic or of foreign origin or production; belonging by birth: as, the native grapes of the South; a native name.
  • Connected by birth; hence, closely related; near.
  • Being the place of birth (of).
  • Conferred by birth; inborn; hereditary; not artificial or acquired; natural.
  • Occurring in nature pure or uncombined with other substances: said of mineral products, and especially of the metals: as, native mercury; native copper: also used to describe any mineral occurring in nature in distinction from the corresponding substance formed artificially: as, galena occurs native and also as a furnace product.
  • Synonyms Natal, Native, Natural. Natal has the narrow meaning of belonging to the event of one's birth; hence it is chiefly used with such words as day, hour, star. Native means conferred by birth: as, native genius; or, belonging by birth or origiu; as, native place, country, language. Natural applies to that which is by nature, as opposed to the work of art. Native eloquence is opposed to that which is acquired; natural eloquence to that which is elaborated by rules.
  • Indigenous, etc. See original.
  • noun One born in a certain place or country, a person or thing which derives its origin from a specified place or country.
  • noun In feudal times, one born a serf or villein, as distinguished from a person who had become so in tiny other way.
  • noun In astrology, a person born under that aspect of the stars which is under consideration.
  • noun In United States politics, same as Knownothing. See American party, under American.
  • noun An oyster raised in a bed other than the natural one.
  • noun Natural source; origin.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun One who, or that which, is born in a place or country referred to; a denizen by birth; an animal, a fruit, or vegetable, produced in a certain region.
  • noun (Stock Breeding), U.S. Any of the live stock found in a region, as distinguished from such as belong to pure and distinct imported breeds.
  • adjective obsolete Arising by birth; having an origin; born.
  • adjective Of or pertaining to one's birth; natal; belonging to the place or the circumstances in which one is born; -- opposed to foreign
  • adjective Born in the region in which one lives; ; grown or originating in the region where used or sold; not foreign or imported. In the latter sense, synonymous with domestic.
  • adjective Original; constituting the original substance of anything.
  • adjective Conferred by birth; derived from origin; born with one; inherent; inborn; not acquired
  • adjective rare Naturally related; cognate; connected (with).
  • adjective Found in nature uncombined with other elements.
  • adjective Found in nature; not artificial.
  • adjective See under American, a.
  • adjective (Zoöl.) the koala.
  • adjective (Bot.) a large underground fungus, of Australia (Mylitta australis), somewhat resembling a truffle, but much larger.
  • adjective (Zoöl.) Same as Tasmanian devil, under Devil.
  • adjective (Zoöl.) an Australian rail (Tribonyx Mortierii).
  • adjective (Zoöl.) See Leipoa.

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English, from Old French natif, from Latin nātīvus, from nātus, past participle of nāscī, to be born; see genə- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Old French natif, from Latin nativus, from natus, ‘birth’.

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word native.

Examples

  • They don't want to be a part of Taiwan so how do they have any right to any opinion on the term native Taiwanese?

    The Old Soldiers Just Won't Fade Away Michael Turton 2007

  • Some people were urging the newspapers to drop the word native from their headlines, others found it hard to know what the hiding of the painful truth would do.

    Cry, the Beloved Country Alan Paton 1948

  • Some people were urging the newspapers to drop the word native from their headlines, others found it hard to know what the hiding of the painful truth would do.

    Cry, the Beloved Country Alan Paton 1948

  • Some people were urging the newspapers to drop the word native from their headlines, others found it hard to know what the hiding of the painful truth would do.

    Cry, the Beloved Country Alan Paton 1948

  • Some people were urging the newspapers to drop the word native from their headlines, others found it hard to know what the hiding of the painful truth would do.

    Cry, the Beloved Country Alan Paton 1948

  • Some people were urging the newspapers to drop the word native from their headlines, others found it hard to know what the hiding of the painful truth would do.

    Cry, the Beloved Country Alan Paton 1948

  • Some people were urging the newspapers to drop the word native from their headlines, others found it hard to know what the hiding of the painful truth would do.

    Cry, the Beloved Country Alan Paton 1948

  • Some people were urging the newspapers to drop the word native from their headlines, others found it hard to know what the hiding of the painful truth would do.

    Cry, the Beloved Country Alan Paton 1948

  • Some people were urging the newspapers to drop the word native from their headlines, others found it hard to know what the hiding of the painful truth would do.

    Cry, the Beloved Country Alan Paton 1948

  • Massachusetts has similar restrictions for the word "native."

    Locally grown? It all depends on how you define it 2011

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • I came to see myself as growing out of the earth like the other native animals and plants. Wendell Berry "A Native Hill"

    July 19, 2008