native

native

See also: Native

English

Etymology

From Middle English natif, from Old French natif, from Latin nātīvus, from nātus (“birth”). Doublet of naive.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈneɪtɪv/
• (US)
  • (General American, weak vowel merger) IPA^(key): /ˈneɪtəv/
  • IPA^(key): /ˈneɪtɪv/
• Rhymes: -eɪtɪv
• Hyphenation: na‧tive

Adjective

native (comparative more native, superlative most 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 (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 humans.

   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.

   cloud native, crypto native

7. (mineralogy) Occurring naturally in its pure or uncombined form.

   native aluminium, native salt

8. Arising by birth; having an origin; born.
   • 1678, R[alph] Cudworth, The True Intellectual System of the Universe: The First Part; wherein All the Reason and Philosophy of Atheism is Confuted; and Its Impossibility Demonstrated, London: […] Richard Royston, […], OCLC 222263967:

     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

   • 1667, John Milton, “Book X”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], […], OCLC 228722708; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, OCLC 230729554:

     Must I thus leave thee Paradise? thus leave Thee Native Soile, these happie Walks and Shades,
     Fit haunt of Gods?

10. Naturally related; cognate; connected (with).
    • c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] 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

• (belonging to one by birth): inborn, innate; See also Thesaurus:innate
• (born or grown in the region in which it is found): aboriginal, autochthonous, indigenous; See also Thesaurus:native

Antonyms

• (born or grown in the region in which it is found): foreign, fremd; See also Thesaurus:foreign

Derived terms

• go native
• native soil
• native speaker
• native wit

 

Translations

belonging to one by birth

Albanian: amëtar Armenian: հայրենի (hy) (hayreni), մայրենի (hy) (mayreni) Assamese: থলুৱা (tholua) Belarusian: ро́дны (ródny) Bulgarian: роден (bg) (roden) Czech: rodný (cs) m Dutch: moeder-, geboorte-, aangeboren (nl) Esperanto: denaska Finnish: syntyperäinen (fi) French: maternel (fr) Galician: nativo m German: gebürtig (de) Greek: γενέθλιος (el) m (genéthlios), μητρικός (el) m (mitrikós) Hungarian: született (hu), … születésű, (of a place, with a possessive suffix) szülött (hu), (of a language) szülő- (hu), (of a language) anya- (hu) Italian: nativo (it), natio (it) m Latin: indiges Macedonian: роден (roden) Polish: rodzimy (pl) m, ojczysty (pl) m Portuguese: nativo (pt) Romanian: nativ (ro), de la naștere, matern (ro) Russian: родно́й (ru) (rodnój) Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: староседеоц, са̏мородан, рођени Roman: starosedeoc (sh), sȁmorodan (sh), rođeni (sh) Spanish: natal (es) Telugu: జన్మస్థలం (te) (janmasthalaṁ) Ukrainian: рі́дний (rídnyj)

characteristic of or relating to people inhabiting a region from the beginning

Albanian: autokton (sq) Assamese: থলুৱা (tholua) Belarusian: карэ́нны (karénny), тузе́мны (tuzjémny), тубы́льны (tubýlʹny), тубы́льчы (tubýlʹčy) Bulgarian: туземен (bg) (tuzemen) Chinese: Mandarin: 土著 (zh) (tǔzhù, tǔzhuó) Dutch: oorspronkelijk (nl), ingeboren (nl), inheems (nl), geboren en getogen Esperanto: indiĝena Finnish: alkuperäinen (fi) French: autochtone (fr) m or f, indigène (fr) m or f Georgian: მკვიდრი (mḳvidri), ადგილობრივი (adgilobrivi) German: gebürtig (de) Greek: γηγενής (el) m (gigenís), αυτόχθων (el) m (aftóchthon) Ancient: αὐτόχθων (autókhthōn) Hungarian: őslakó (hu), honos (hu), őshonos (hu), bennszülött (hu) Italian: nativo (it), indigeno (it), autoctono (it), aborigeno (it) Japanese: 土着の (ja) (どちゃくの, dochaku no) Latin: indiges, indigenus Norwegian: Bokmål: innfødt Old English: inlende, inlendisc Polish: rdzenny (pl) m, tubylczy (pl) Portuguese: indígena (pt), nativo (pt) Romanian: originar (ro) m or n, originară f Russian: коренно́й (ru) (korennój), тузе́мный (ru) (tuzémnyj) Sanskrit: देशज (sa) (deśaja) Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: староседеоц, са̏мородан Roman: starosedeoc (sh), sȁmorodan (sh) Spanish: indígena (es), originario (es) Tagalog: katutubo (tl) Ukrainian: корінни́й (korinnýj), тубі́льний (tubílʹnyj)

characteristic of or existing by virtue of geographic origin

Albanian: vendës (sq) Arabic: أَصْلِيّ‎ (ʾaṣliyy) Assamese: থলুৱা (tholua) Bulgarian: местен (bg) (mesten) Chinese: Mandarin: 本地 (zh) (běndì) Dutch: inheems (nl) Finnish: paikallinen (fi), alueellinen (fi) French: natif (fr) German: einheimisch (de) Greek: ντόπιος (el) m (dópios), ιθαγενής (el) m or f (ithagenís) Hungarian: (local) helyi (hu), helybeli (hu), helybéli, (original) eredeti (hu), (innate) veleszületett Italian: nativo (it), oriundo (it) Japanese: 自国の (ja) (じこくの, jikoku no) Korean: 토산의 (tosan-ui) Old English: inlende, inlendisc Portuguese: nativo (pt), oriundo (pt) Romanian: localnic (ro) m or n, localnică (ro) f, autohton (ro) Russian: родно́й (ru) (rodnój), ме́стный (ru) (méstnyj), тузе́мный (ru) (tuzémnyj) (oboriginal) Spanish: nativo (es), oriundo (es) Swedish: inhemsk (sv)

biology: which occurs of its own accord in a given locality

Albanian: autokton (sq) Assamese: থলুৱা (tholua) Chinese: Mandarin: 本地 (zh) (běndì) Dutch: inheems (nl), autochtoon (nl) Finnish: autoktoninen (fi), kotoperäinen (fi) French: endémique (fr) m or f Hungarian: honos (hu), őshonos (hu) Italian: endemico (it) Norwegian: Bokmål: hjemmehørende Russian: ме́стный (ru) (méstnyj) Scottish Gaelic: gnèitheach

computing: pertaining to a particular system

Italian: nativo (it) Polish: natywny (pl) Portuguese: nativo (pt)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

German: (please verify) nativ (de)

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 descent, as distinguished from a person who was or whose ancestors were foreigners or settlers/colonizers. Alternative letter-case form of Native (aboriginal inhabitant of the Americas or Australia).
   • 1940 December, O. S. M. Raw, “The Rhodesia Railways—II”, in Railway Magazine, page 640:

     Mail trains are limited to first and second class passengers, but on the mixed trains third class is also provided, and this is patronised exclusively by natives.

   • 2009, Alex M. Cameron, Power without Law: The Supreme Court of Canada, the Marshall Decisions and the Failure of Judicial Activism, McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP, →ISBN:

     Dr John Reid, a historian called to testify for Mr Marshall, distinguished between the fur trade at the truckhouses and a smaller scale trade between natives and settlers: "It seems that there were native persons who were selling small amounts […] "

   • 2013, James Ciment, Another America: The Story of Liberia and the Former Slaves Who Ruled It, Hill and Wang, →ISBN, page 72:

     As for the wars between natives and settlers, far from having “ceased,” they would continue well into the twentieth century, and over much the same things that had always sparked them—trade, land, and settler arrogance.

3. A native speaker.
4. Ostrea edulis, a kind of oyster.

Usage notes

• In North America, native/Native came into use as an umbrella term for the indigenous inhabitants of America as Indian began to fall out of formal usage (because it originated from Columbus's mistaken belief that he was in India and the people he encountered were Indians). Other designations include Native American, Native Canadian, and American Indian. In Canada, the terms include Inuit and Metis and the adjectives First Nation/First Nations.

Synonyms

• homeling (uncommon, obsolete)

Derived terms

• the natives are restless

Translations

person who is native to a place

Bulgarian: местен (bg) m (mesten) Catalan: indígena (ca) m or f, nadiu (ca) m, nadiua (ca) f Chinese: Mandarin: 當地人／当地人 (dāngdìrén), 本地人 (zh) (běndìrén) Czech: domorodec (cs) m, rodák m Dutch: autochtoon (nl) m, inwoner (nl) m; inboorling (nl) m (pejorative) Esperanto: indiĝeno Finnish: paikallinen asukas, alkuasukas (fi) (pejorative) German: Ureinwohner (de) m, Ureinwohnerin (de) f, Eingeborener (de) m, Eingeborene (de) f Italian: indigeno (it) m, aborigeno (it) m Latin: indigena m or f Malayalam: സ്വദേശി (ml) (svadēśi), നാട്ടുകാരൻ (ml) m (nāṭṭukāraṉ) Manx: dooghyssagh m, çheeragh m, fer dooie m, ben ghooie f Maori: tangata whenua Old English: inlenda m Polish: tubylec (pl) m, autochton (pl) m Portuguese: nativo (pt) m, indígena (pt) m or f; selvagem (pt) m or f (pejorative) Romanian: indigen (ro), autohton (ro) Russian: уроже́нец (ru) m (urožénec), уроже́нка (ru) f (urožénka), ме́стный (ru) m (méstnyj), ме́стная (ru) f (méstnaja), коренно́й жи́тель (ru) m (korennój žítelʹ), коренна́я жи́тельница f (korennája žítelʹnica), вы́ходец (ru) m (výxodec) (when living somewhere else, no feminine form exists); тузе́мец (ru) m (tuzémec), тузе́мка (ru) f (tuzémka), абориге́н (ru) m (aborigén), абориге́нка (ru) f (aborigénka) (pejorative) Scots: hamespun Spanish: indígena (es) m or f Tok Pisin: kanaka

person of aboriginal stock

Bulgarian: туземец (bg) m (tuzemec) Chinese: Mandarin: 土著 (zh) (tǔzhù, tǔzhuó), 土著人 (tǔzhùrén, tǔzhuórén), 原住民 (zh) (yuánzhùmín) Finnish: alkuasukas (fi) Latin: indigena m or f Russian: абориге́н (ru) m (aborigén), абориге́нка (ru) f (aborigénka)

native speaker — see native speaker

See also

• native cat
• nativity
• nativization

References

• native at OneLook Dictionary Search
• native in Keywords for Today: A 21st Century Vocabulary, edited by The Keywords Project, Colin MacCabe, Holly Yanacek, 2018.
• "native" in Raymond Williams, Keywords (revised), 1983, Fontana Press, page 215.
• native in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911

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French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /na.tiv/

• Audio

  (file)

• Homophone: natives

Adjective

native

1. feminine singular of natif

Anagrams

• enviât, vanité, veinât, venait

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Italian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /naˈti.ve/
• Rhymes: -ive
• Hyphenation: na‧tì‧ve

Adjective

native

1. feminine plural of nativo

Noun

native f pl

1. plural of nativa

Anagrams

• Aventi, aventi, avinte, evinta, nevati, vanite, venati, viante, vinate

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Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /naːˈtiː.u̯e/, [näːˈt̪iːu̯ɛ]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /naˈti.ve/, [näˈt̪iːve]

Adjective

nātīve

1. vocative masculine singular of nātīvus

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Romanian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [naˈti.ve]

Adjective

native

1. feminine/neuter plural nominative/accusative of nativ