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indigenous

EnglishEdit

WOTD – 4 October 2010

EtymologyEdit

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 endogenous.

PronunciationEdit

AdjectiveEdit

indigenous (not comparable)

  1. (chiefly of living things) Born or engendered in, native to a land or region, especially before an intrusion. [from 17th c.]
    • 1862, Henry David Thoreau, "Wild Apples: The History of the Apple Tree":
      Not only the Indian, but many indigenous insects, birds, and quadrupeds, welcomed the apple-tree to these shores.
  2. Innate, inborn. [from 19th c.]
    • 1852, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Uncle Tom's Cabin, ch. 18:
      She was a native and essential cook, as much as Aunt Chloe,—cooking being an indigenous talent of the African race.
    • 1883, George MacDonald, "Stephen Archer" in Stephen Archer and Other Tales:
      He had all the tricks of a newspaper boy indigenous in him.
  3. Of or relating to the native inhabitants of a land.
  4. Of or relating to a language, culture, or ethnic group that has not spread by colonization, or that has been on the receiving end of colonization.

SynonymsEdit

Derived termsEdit

Derived terms

TranslationsEdit

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