indian

plural indians

1. Alternative letter-case form of Indian (“indigene”).

comparative more indian · superlative most indian

1. Alternative letter-case form of Indian (“indigenous”).

comparative more Indian · superlative most Indian

1. Of or relating to India or its people; or (formerly) of the East Indies.First known use 14th c.

   An IAF representative told an Indian parliamentary committee that due to the Ukraine war a “major delivery” from Moscow “is not going to take place.”

   2023 March 24, Rhea Mogul, “Russia can’t meet India arms deliveries due to Ukraine war, Indian Air Force says”, in CNN, archived from the original on 15 Jun 2024

   Synonyms: East Indian, Indic, Hindian, Desi, Indish

2. obsoleteEastern; Oriental.

   The morrow next apprear'd with purple hayre / Yet dropping fresh out of the Indian fount, / And bringing light into the heavens fayre […].

   1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book V, Canto X”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC

3. proscribedOf or relating to the indigenous peoples of the Americas.First known use 16th c.

   The hardships of bark-collecting in the primeval forests of South America are of the severest kind, and undergone only by the half-civilized Indians and people of mixed race, in the pay of speculators or companies located in the towns.

   1879, Friedrich August Flückiger et al., Pharmacographia..., page 346

   Synonyms: Native American, Amerindian, First Nation

4. CanadaUSproscribedMade with Indian corn or maize.First known use 17th c.

   Indian meal

   1 more example

   Indian bread

5. board gamesDesignating any of various chess openings now characterised by black's attempt to control the board through knights and fianchettoed bishops rather than with a central pawn advance.First known use 19th c.

plural Indians

1. countableA person from the country of India.First known use 13th c.

   Young Indians looking for work opportunities have made up a sizeable portion of undocumented migrants in the US, many after making the dangerous trek through Latin America to reach the US southern border.

   2025 February 7, Esha Mitra, Aishwarya S Iyer and Ross Adkin, “‘Treated like criminals’: Shackling of Indians aboard 40-hour migrant flight sparks new outrage against Trump”, in CNN, archived from the original on 27 Feb 2025

   1 more example

   [A]ll personnel are to be hereby ordered to refer to her as a "Kumiho," and not a "Kitsune." Personnel asking what the difference is are to be reminded of the difference between a Cherokee Indian and a New Delhi Indian.

   2025, collective, “SCP-953”, in SCP Foundation, archived from the original on 08 Jan 2026

   Synonyms: Asian Indian, East Indian, Hindian, Desi

2. countabledatedproscribeduncountableA person from the subcontinent of India.

   Synonyms: South Asian

3. countableproscribedAn American Indian, a member of one of the indigenous peoples of the Americas (generally excluding the Aleut, Inuit, Metis, and Yupik).First known use 16th c.

   With savage desperation the Indian lunged his horse straight at Hopalong and, knife in hand, leaped for him!

   1951, Louis L'Amour, Rustlers of West Fork

   3 more examples

   We stigmatize the Indians, also, as cowardly and treacherous, because they use stratagem in warfare in preference to open force; but in this they are fully justified by their rude code of honor.

   1820 July, Geoffrey Crayon [pseudonym; Washington Irving], “Traits of Indian Character”, in The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent., New York, N.Y.: […] C[ornelius] S. Van Winkle, […], →OCLC

   High Jack had been drinking too much rum ever since we landed in Boca. You know how an Indian is—the palefaces fixed his clock when they introduced him to firewater.

   1909, O. Henry [pseudonym; William Sydney Porter], “He Also Serves”, in Options

   [A]ll personnel are to be hereby ordered to refer to her as a "Kumiho," and not a "Kitsune." Personnel asking what the difference is are to be reminded of the difference between a Cherokee Indian and a New Delhi Indian.

   2025, collective, “SCP-953”, in SCP Foundation

   Synonyms: Amerindian, Native American, Red Indian, First Nations person, American Indian, Amerind, Amerindian, First American

4. countableobsoleteAn indigenous inhabitant of Australia, New Zealand or the Pacific islands.First known use 18th c.
5. abbreviationellipsisuncountableEllipsis of Indian cuisine.

   Have you ever tried Indian?

6. UKabbreviationcolloquialcountableellipsisEllipsis of Indian meal (“meal consisting of Indian cuisine”).First known use 20th c.

   We're going out tonight for an Indian.

7. UKabbreviationcolloquialcountableellipsisEllipsis of Indian restaurant (“restaurant serving Indian cuisine”).

   We're going down to the Indian for a curry—wanna join us?

8. abbreviationcountableellipsisEllipsis of Mardi Gras Indian.
9. countableuncountableA kind of marble (spherical toy) with colored bands on an opaque black base.

1. nonstandardAny of the (unrelated) languages spoken by American Indians.
2. nonstandardrareAny language spoken by natives of India, especially Hindi.

   [They said] 'Mutton can speak Indian', 'Mutton can see Kanchinjunga out of his bedroom window'[.]

   1968, Anne Rider, A hilltop in hazard, page 51