native
pronunciation
How to pronounce native in British English:
UK [ˈneɪtɪv]
How to pronounce native in American English:
US [ˈneɪtɪv]
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- Noun:
- a person who was born in a particular place; an indigenous person
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- Adjective:
- being such by origin
- belonging to one by birth
- being or composed of people inhabiting a region from the beginning
- as found in nature in the elemental form
- normally existing at birth
Word Origin
- native
- native: [14] Native is one of a large family of English words that go back ultimately to the Latin verb nāscī. This meant ‘be born’, and was a descendant of the Indo-European base *gen-, *gn- ‘produce’, which also gave English gene, general, generate, etc. From its past participial stem nāt- was formed the adjective nātīvus ‘from birth, born’, which has produced English native (and also, via Old French, naive [17], which is etymologically the equivalent of ‘born yesterday’), and also its derivative nativity [12] (applied from earliest times specifically to the birth of Christ).Other English words from the same source include cognate [17], innate [15], nascent [17], natal [14], nation, nature, noel (earlier nowel [14], from an Old French descendant of Latin nātālis ‘of birth’), pregnant, puny, and renaissance [19] (literally ‘rebirth’).=> cognate, gene, general, generate, innate, naive, nascent, nation, nature, noel, pregnant, puny, renaissance
- native (adj.)
- late 14c., "natural, hereditary, connected with something in a natural way," from Old French natif "native, born in; raw, unspoiled" (14c.) and directly from Latin nativus "innate, produced by birth," from natus, past participle of nasci (Old Latin gnasci) "be born," related to gignere "beget," from PIE root *gene-/*gen- "to give birth, beget," with derivatives referring to familial and tribal groups (see genus). From late 15c. as "born in a particular place." From early 15c. as "of one's birth," also used from mid-15c. in sense of "bound; born in servitude or serfdom," also, as a noun "a bondsman, serf." Native American attested from 1956.
- native (n.)
- mid-15c., "person born in bondage," from native (adj.), and in some usages from Medieval Latin nativus, noun use of nativus (adj.). Compare Old French naif, also "woman born in slavery." From 1530s as "person who has always lived in a place." Applied from mid-17c. to original inhabitants of non-European nations where Europeans hold political power, for example American Indians (by 1630s); hence, used contemptuously of "the locals" from 1800. Related: Natives.
Synonym
Example
- 1. Even its native pearl industry was on its last legs .
- 2. Apple 's is about native apps you run on devices .
- 3. Native low-skilled workers suffer most from the competition of foreign labor .
- 4. Invasive animals and plants have devastated native species on many pacific islands .
- 5. Often fights with native americans are depicted .