native

Borrowed from Old French natif, from Latin nativus, from natus (“birth”). Doublet of naive.

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

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 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.
   • (Can we date this quote?) Cudworth

     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

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Milton to this entry?)

10. Naturally related; cognate; connected (with).
    • (Can we date this quote?) Shakespeare

      The head is not more native to the heart, […] / Than is the throne of Denmark to thy father.

• (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

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

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 (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.

• 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.

• homeling (uncommon, obsolete)

• the natives are restless

• native cat
• nativity
• nativization

• "native" in Raymond Williams, Keywords (revised), 1983, Fontana Press, page 215.

native

1. feminine singular of natif

• enviât, vanité, veinât, venait

native

1. Feminine plural of adjective nativo.

native f pl

1. plural of nativa

• aventi, avinte, evinta, venati

nātīve

1. vocative masculine singular of nātīvus

• IPA^(key): [naˈti.ve]

native

1. feminine plural nominative of nativ
2. feminine plural accusative of nativ
3. neuter plural nominative of nativ
4. neuter plural accusative of nativ