Definitions

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

  • noun One that originated or was formed where it is found, especially a rock formation that has not been displaced.
  • noun One of the earliest known inhabitants of a place; an aborigine.
  • noun Ecology An indigenous plant or animal.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun That element or portion of the fauna of a given region which has descended directly from animals which occupied the region at a much earlier period: contrasted with heterochthon.
  • noun Literally, one sprung from the land he inhabits; hence, one of the primitive inhabitants of a country; a member of the race found in a country when first known; an aboriginal inhabitant.
  • noun plural The primitive animals or plants of a country or region, especially in geological time.

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

  • noun One who is supposed to rise or spring from the ground or the soil he inhabits; one of the original inhabitants or aborigines; a native; -- commonly in the plural. This title was assumed by the ancient Greeks, particularly the Athenians.
  • noun That which is original to a particular country, or which had there its origin.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun The earliest inhabitant of an area, an aborigine.
  • noun geology An autochthonous rock formation.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun the earliest known inhabitants of a region

Etymologies

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

[Greek autokhthōn : auto-, auto- + khthōn, earth; see dhghem- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Ancient Greek αὐτόχθων (autokhthōn, "indigenous"), from αὐτο- (auto-) + χθών (khthōn, "earth, soil").

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Examples

  • On Myral, where I had spent the last ten years, only a little of such status attached to the largest autochthon — not surprising for a creature whose name is a contraction of "shit-eating quadruped."

    The Year's Best Science Fiction 23rd Annual Collection Dozois, Gardner 2006

  • Then Chee darted between those legs, tumbled the autochthon on his tocus and bounded onward.

    The Earth Book of Stormgate Anderson, Poul, 1926-2001 1978

  • He was an autochthon, a handsome creature by any standards.

    A Knight of Ghosts and Shadows Anderson, Poul, 1926- 1974

  • The presence on plants and animals of any autochthon-morphological characters means death to Darwinism, because these can never be explained by means of selection and struggle for existence.

    At the Deathbed of Darwinism A Series of Papers Eberhard Dennert

  • Danish character, and as a Dane he saw and judged the Jewish character with a liberality and insight of which no autochthon would have been capable.

    Essays on Scandinavian Literature Hjalmar Hjorth Boyesen 1871

  • The Indian apprehension is understandable because given the length of time the terrorists were able to hold out against special forces and the extent of mayhem they caused, extensive autochthon involvement is more than probable.

    Opinion Source: Delivering summaries of editorial and op-ed pieces from major papers by email. 2009

  • With the passage of time, the level of immigrants had witnessed substantive amelioration, the rift between the immigrants and the autochthon populations grew wider and wider, and seems to have posed difficult problems to the governments and the societies in many European countries.

    Gates of Vienna 2009

  • Body Snatchers who pump into any territory under their domain an unceasing stream of racially and culturally unrelated immigrants, rob the autochthon inhabitants of a part of their identity.

    The Brussels Journal - The Voice of Conservatism in Europe 2009

  • For many years we gave medals with the Order Diego de Losada: founder of the city of Caracas, but in function that we are rewriting the history, revising and fortifying currents and specially relaunching the autochthon of the native, the blacks, the mestizos, today we decided not to give anymore the Order of Diego de Losada and we created the medal of Juan Francisco de Leon, who was a "compatriota" who in 1749 launched the first rebellion against the Spaniard Government... thus the Caracas municipality has decided to create this new order and from now on it will be given to men and women that for their contribution to the development of the city, of the arts, of the culture, deserve to get it

    07/24/2005 - 07/31/2005 2005

  • For many years we gave medals with the Order Diego de Losada: founder of the city of Caracas, but in function that we are rewriting the history, revising and fortifying currents and specially relaunching the autochthon of the native, the blacks, the mestizos, today we decided not to give anymore the Order of Diego de Losada and we created the medal of Juan Francisco de Leon, who was a "compatriota" who in 1749 launched the first rebellion against the Spaniard Government... thus the Caracas municipality has decided to create this new order and from now on it will be given to men and women that for their contribution to the development of the city, of the arts, of the culture, deserve to get it

    The lapse of Caracas 2005

Comments

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  • 'indigenous, native'

    January 29, 2008