indigenous
Pronunciation: /ɪnˈdɪdʒɪnəs/
The English word “indigenous” has 4 meanings listed here.
adjective
- Native to a land, especially before colonization.
- In particular, of or relating to a people (or their language or culture) that inhabited a region prior to the arrival of people of other cultures which became dominant (e.g., through colonialism), and which maintains a distinct culture.
- Innate, inborn.
- Original to a geographical area.
Etymology
Borrowed from Late Latin indigenus (“native, born in a country”), from indi- (indu-), an old derivative of in (“in”), gen- the root of gignō (“give birth to”), and English -ous. Compare indigene, Ancient Greek ἐνδογενής (endogenḗs, “born in the house”), and the separately formed piecewise doublet endogenous. Unrelated to Indian.
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More English words
- indigenistic
- indigenization
- indigenize
- indigenocide
- Indigenous Australian
- Indigenous Canadian
- indigenous medicine
- indigenously
About this dictionary
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Definitions are from Wiktionary, extracted by Kaikki.org, and are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.