Meaning of native in English

Table of contents

Classifying Adjective
native
Definitions
1. as found in nature in the elemental form
Examples
- « native copper »
Synonyms
- pure
2. normally existing at birth
Examples
- « mankind's connatural sense of the good »
Synonyms
- normal
Noun
native
Etymology
late Middle English: from Latin nativus, from nat-‘born’, from the verb nasci
Definitions
1. a person who was born in a particular place
Examples
- « an indigenous person »
Qualitative Adjective
native
Definitions
1. being such by origin
Examples
- « the native North American sugar maple »
- « many native artists studied abroad »
Synonyms
Antonyms
- foreign
2. belonging to one by birth
Examples
- « my native land »
- « one's native language »
Antonyms
- adopted
- adoptive
3. being or composed of people inhabiting a region from the beginning
Examples
- « native Americans »
- « the aboriginal peoples of Australia »
Antonyms
- nonnative

Famous quotes

« The proper means of increasing the love we bear our native country is to reside some time in a foreign one. »
William Shenstone
« On the Native American front, we have turned a new page in the 400-year history of the interface between the American settlers of this country and the nation's first Americans. That's included a new relationship where the sovereignty of tribes is in fact recognized. »
Ken Salazar
« And Americans realized that native people are still here, that they have a moral standing, a legal standing. »
Dennis Banks
« I've got tonnes of aboriginal and Native American art, but I'd like even more. »
Tori Amos
« I love Caribbean food. It's a great melting pot of so many cultures including the Native Americans. »
Bob Greene