indigenous definition

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 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/

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• Rhymes: -ɪdʒɪnəs, -ɪdʒənəs
• Hyphenation: in‧dig‧e‧nous

Adjective

indigenous (not comparable)

1. Born or originating 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.

   • 1997, Eduardo Galeano, Open Veins of Latin America: Five Centuries of the Pillage of a Continent, Monthly Review Press, page 17:

     Horses, like camels, had once been indigenous to Latin America but had become extinct.

   1. 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.

      The Ainu are the indigenous ethnic group of Japan's Hokkaido Island.

      • 2007 April, Julie Grundvig, “TAIWAN”, in The Asia Book: A Journey Through Every Country in the Continent‎^[2], →ISBN, →OCLC, page 103, column 2:

        About 98 per cent of Taiwan's inhabitants are Han Chinese, a diverse mix of ethnic and linguistic groups, including Hakka, Cantonese and Fujianese, who came from China's southern coast. Taiwan's other two per cent are from one of the nine indigenous tribes, which are scattered throughout the island but largely concentrated along the east coast and in the Central Mountain Range.

2. Innate, inborn. [from 19th c.]
   • 1851 June – 1852 April, Harriet Beecher Stowe, chapter 18, in Uncle Tom’s Cabin; or, Life among the Lowly, volumes (please specify |volume=I or II), Boston, Mass.: John P[unchard] Jewett & Company; Cleveland, Oh.: Jewett, Proctor & Worthington, published 20 March 1852, →OCLC:

     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.

Usage notes

• Some style guides recommend capitalizing Indigenous in reference to the racial/ethnic/cultural category,^[1][2][3] while noting that lowercase indigenous has historically been more common.^[4]

Synonyms

• (native): aboriginal, autochthonous, local; See also Thesaurus:native
• (innate, inborn): connatural, natural; See also Thesaurus:innate

Derived terms

Related terms

• indigena

Translations

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.
• “indigenous”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.