native
see also: Native
Pronunciation
  • (RP) IPA: /ˈneɪtɪv/
  • (America)
    • (GA, weak vowel) IPA: /ˈneɪtəv/
Adjective

native

  1. Belonging to one by birth.
    This is my native land.
    English is not my native language.
    I need a volunteer native New Yorker for my next joke…
  2. Characteristic of or relating to people inhabiting a region from prehistoric times.
    What are now called ‘Native Americans’ used to be called Indians.
    The native peoples of Australia are called aborigines.
  3. Alternative letter-case form of Native#English|Native of or relating to the native inhabitants of the Americas, or of Australia.
  4. Born or grown in the region in which it lives or is found; not foreign or imported.
    a native inhabitant
    native oysters or strawberries
    Many native artists studied abroad.
  5. (biology, of a species) Which occurs of its own accord in a given locality, to be contrasted with a species introduced by man.
    The naturalized Norway maple often outcompetes the native North American sugar maple.
  6. (computing, of software) Pertaining to the system or architecture in question.
    This is a native back-end to gather the latest news feeds.
    The native integer size is sixteen bits.
  7. (mineralogy) Occurring naturally in its pure or uncombined form; native aluminium, native salt.
  8. Arising by birth; having an origin; born.
    • Anaximander's opinion is, that the gods are native, rising and vanishing again in long periods of times.
  9. Original; constituting the original substance of anything.
    native dust
  10. Naturally related; cognate; connected (with).
    • c. 1599–1602, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: Printed by Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358 ↗, [Act I, scene ii]:
      The head is not more native to the heart, […] / Than is the throne of Denmark to thy father.
Synonyms Antonyms Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations Noun

native (plural natives)

  1. A person who is native to a place; a person who was born in a place.
  2. (in particular) A person of aboriginal stock, as distinguished from a person who was or whose ancestors were foreigners or settlers/colonizers. Alternative letter-case form of Native#English|Native aboriginal inhabitant of the Americas or Australia.
    Some natives must have stolen our cattle.
  3. A native speaker.
  4. Ostrea edulis, a kind of oyster.
Synonyms Translations Translations
  • Russian: абориге́н

Native
Adjective

native (not comparable)

  1. Belonging to the native inhabitants of the Americas or Australia; in particular:
    1. (US, Canada) Indian: Native American or First Nation; of or relating to (North) American Indians.
      • 2005, Native American Issues: A Reference Handbook ISBN 1851097414, page 82:
        Therefore, in 1885 Congress passed the Major Crimes Act whereby jurisdiction in the case of seven major crimes (the list of crimes was later expanded) occurring on Native lands was placed in the hands of federal courts.
    2. (Australia, New Zealand) Aboriginal; of or relating to Australian Aboriginal peoples, Aborigines.
      • 1904 November 3, in the New Zealand Parliamentary Debates, second session, fifteenth parliament, legislative council and house of representatives, volume 131, Native Land Rating Bill, page 814:
        He did not ask the Council to sanction the removal of all restrictions on Native lands, but simply asked that such lands as are to be rated under this Bill should have their titles freed in so far as to enable the Native owners to lease those lands and obtain some benefit therefrom.
Noun

native (plural natives)

  1. An aboriginal inhabitant of the Americas or Australia; in particular:
    1. (US, Canada) A Native American.
    2. (Australia, New Zealand) An Aborigine.



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