English Online Dictionary. What means indigenous? What does indigenous mean?
English
Etymology
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 piecewise doublet endogenous. Unrelated to Indian.
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ɪnˈdɪdʒɪnəs/
- (General American) enPR: ĭn-dĭj′ə-nəs, ĭn-dĭj′ĭ-nəs, IPA(key): /ɪnˈdɪd͡ʒənəs/, /ɪnˈdɪd͡ʒɪnəs/
- Rhymes: -ɪdʒɪnəs, -ɪdʒənəs
- Hyphenation: in‧dig‧e‧nous
Adjective
indigenous (not comparable)
- Born or originating in, native to a land or region, especially before an intrusion. [from 17th c.]
- In particular, of or relating to a people (or their language or culture) that inhabited a region prior to the arrival of people of other cultures which became dominant (e.g., through colonialism), and which maintains a distinct culture.
- Innate, inborn. [from 19th c.]
Usage notes
- Some style guides recommend capitalizing Indigenous in reference to the racial/ethnic/cultural category, while noting that lowercase indigenous has historically been more common.
- The word is capitalised when it appears as part of the proper name of a recognized ethnic category. For example, "Indigenous Australian" and "Indigenous Canadian" are always capitalised.
Synonyms
- (native): aboriginal, autochthonous, local; See also Thesaurus:native
- (innate, inborn): connatural, natural; See also Thesaurus:innate
Derived terms
Related terms
Translations
See also
References
Further reading
- “indigenous”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
- indigenous in Keywords for Today: A 21st Century Vocabulary, edited by The Keywords Project, Colin MacCabe, Holly Yanacek, 2018.
- William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “indigenous”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.