Meanings
indigenous1
- not comparableNative to a land, especially before colonization.First known use 17th c.
The Aboriginals were indigenous to Victoria before the World War.
3 more examples
Not only the Indian, but many indigenous insects, birds, and quadrupeds, welcomed the apple-tree to these shores.
1862, Henry David Thoreau, Wild Apples: The History of the Apple TreeHorses, like camels, had once been indigenous to Latin America but had become extinct.
1997, Eduardo Galeano, Open Veins of Latin America: Five Centuries of the Pillage of a Continent, Monthly Review Press, page 17Berlin is unique in being home to numerous East German converts to Islam who belong to the same German-speaking Muslim communities as West German converts. […] I attempt in this book to give a good sense of the diversity of contemporary indigenous Sunni Muslims in Germany, while pointing to commonalities and differences.
2015, Esra Özyürek, Being German, Becoming Muslim: Race, Religion, and Conversion in the New Europe, Princeton University Press, page 23- not comparableIn 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.
3 more examples
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.
2007 April, Julie Grundvig, “TAIWAN”, in The Asia Book: A Journey Through Every Country in the Continent, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 103, column 2The team auctioned off the right to name the new species to publicize the find and raise awareness and funds for the indigenous Lahu people of northern Thailand, a group that Sippawat is part of.
2023 September 26, Hafsa Khalil, “Electric blue tarantula species discovered in Thailand”, in CNN, archived from the original on 20 Nov 2024Muksin specifically mentioned 11 extinct indigenous languages, such as Tandia and Mawes in West Papua and Papua, along with Kajeli, Piru, Moksela, Palumata, Ternateno, Hukumina, Hoti, Serua, and Nila in different areas of Maluku.
2024 March 8, Antara, “11 Indigenous Languages Declared Extinct: Education Ministry”, in Jakarta Globe, archived from the original on 13 Nov 2024
- not comparableInnate, inborn.First known use 19th c.
He had all the tricks of a newspaper boy indigenous in him.
1883, George MacDonald, “Stephen Archer”, in Stephen Archer and Other Tales1 more example
She was a native and essential cook, as much as Aunt Chloe,—cooking being an indigenous talent of the African race.
1851 June – 1852 April, Harriet Beecher Stowe, chapter 18, in Uncle Tom’s Cabin; or, Life among the Lowly, volume (please specify |volume=I or II), Boston, Mass.: John P[unchard] Jewett & Company; Cleveland, Oh.: Jewett, Proctor & Worthington, published 20 March 1852, →OCLCSynonyms: connatural
- not comparableOriginal to a geographical area.
That style of pottery is indigenous to that region.
Indigenous2
- not comparableAlternative letter-case form of indigenous (“native, relating to the native inhabitants of a land”).
Many Indigenous people use the day not only to remember the suffering inflicted in the 1620s but also to point out the struggles that Indigenous people continue to face today in the form of, on top of so much else, violence against women and girls.
2021 November 25, Brandon Tensley, “National Day of Mourning turns Thanksgiving into something more honest”, in CNN
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveInnate, inborn.
native
More synonyms by meaning
adjectiveoriginating where it is found
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Late Latinindigenus“native, born in a country”
- Englishindigenous
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.
More words from Late Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans inheems
- inheemsborn or engendered in, native to a land or region
Ancient Greek αὐτόχθων
- αὐτόχθων (autókhthōn)born or engendered in, native to a land or region
Arabic أَصْلِيّ
- أَصْلِيّ (ʔaṣliyy)born or engendered in, native to a land or region
Bulgarian вроден, местен
- вроден (vroden)innate, inborn
- местен (mesten)born or engendered in, native to a land or region
- туземен (tuzemen)born or engendered in, native to a land or region
Catalan indígena
- indígenaborn or engendered in, native to a land or region
Chinese Mandarin 在地的
- 在地的born or engendered in, native to a land or region
Dutch aangeboren, ingeboren
- aangeboreninnate, inborn
- ingeboreninnate, inborn
- overgeërfdinnate, inborn
- inheemsborn or engendered in, native to a land or region
- autochtoonborn or engendered in, native to a land or region
- oorspronkelijkborn or engendered in, native to a land or region
Esperanto indiĝena
- indiĝenaborn or engendered in, native to a land or region
Estonian pärismaine
- pärismaineborn or engendered in, native to a land or region
Finnish synnynnäinen, alkuperäinen
- synnynnäineninnate, inborn
- alkuperäinenborn or engendered in, native to a land or region
French inné, congénital
- innéinnate, inborn
- congénitalinnate, inborn
- indigèneborn or engendered in, native to a land or region
- aborigèneborn or engendered in, native to a land or region
- autochtoneborn or engendered in, native to a land or region
German angeboren, intuitiv
- angeboreninnate, inborn
- intuitivinnate, inborn
- eingeboreninnate, inborn
- indigenborn or engendered in, native to a land or region
- einheimischborn or engendered in, native to a land or region
- eingeborenborn or engendered in, native to a land or region
- inländischborn or engendered in, native to a land or region
Hebrew יְלִידִי
- יְלִידִי (y'lidi)born or engendered in, native to a land or region
Icelandic meðfæddur, frumbyggja-
- meðfæddurinnate, inborn
- frumbyggja-born or engendered in, native to a land or region
- infæddurborn or engendered in, native to a land or region
- innlendurborn or engendered in, native to a land or region
Indonesian inlander, pribumi
- inlanderborn or engendered in, native to a land or region
- pribumiborn or engendered in, native to a land or region
- masyarakat adatborn or engendered in, native to a land or region
Italian innato, congenito
- innatoinnate, inborn
- congenitoinnate, inborn
- indigenoborn or engendered in, native to a land or region
Latin indigenus
- indigenusborn or engendered in, native to a land or region
Māori taketake
- taketakeborn or engendered in, native to a land or region
Norwegian Bokmål stedegen, innfødt
- stedegenborn or engendered in, native to a land or region
- innfødtborn or engendered in, native to a land or region
Persian بومی
- بومی (bumi)born or engendered in, native to a land or region
Polish miejscowy, macierzysty
- miejscowyborn or engendered in, native to a land or region
- macierzystyborn or engendered in, native to a land or region
Portuguese nato, indígena
- natoinnate, inborn
- indígenaborn or engendered in, native to a land or region
- nativoborn or engendered in, native to a land or region
- aborígeneborn or engendered in, native to a land or region
- aborígineborn or engendered in, native to a land or region
Romanian indigen, autohton
- indigenborn or engendered in, native to a land or region
- autohtonborn or engendered in, native to a land or region
Russian врождённый, прирождённый
- врождённый (vroždjónnyj)innate, inborn
- прирождённый (priroždjónnyj)innate, inborn
- приро́дный (priródnyj)innate, inborn
- коренно́й (korennój)born or engendered in, native to a land or region
- абориге́нный (aborigénnyj)born or engendered in, native to a land or region
- ме́стный (méstnyj)born or engendered in, native to a land or region
- тузе́мный (tuzémnyj)born or engendered in, native to a land or region
- автохто́нный (avtoxtónnyj)born or engendered in, native to a land or region
Scottish Gaelic tùsanach
- tùsanachborn or engendered in, native to a land or region
Spanish indígena
- indígenaborn or engendered in, native to a land or region
Tagalog katutubo
- katutuboborn or engendered in, native to a land or region
Turkish yerli
- yerliborn or engendered in, native to a land or region
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with indigenous
All rhymes →Cite this entry
indigenous. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/indigenous
“indigenous.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/indigenous. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “indigenous,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/indigenous.
Source: indigenous on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.