native
Belonging to one by birth or ancestry.
Adjective 4 meanings
Belonging to one by birth or ancestry.
“This is my native land.”
Characteristic of or relating to people inhabiting a region from prehistoric times.
“Many native artists studied abroad.”
Born or grown in the region in which it lives or is found; not foreign or imported.
“native oysters or strawberries”
Which occurs of its own accord in a given locality, to be contrasted with a species introduced by humans.
“The naturalized Norway maple often outcompetes the native North American sugar maple.”
Noun 4 meanings
A person who is native to a place; a person who was born in a place.
A person of aboriginal descent, as distinguished from a person who was or whose ancestors were foreigners or settlers/colonizers. Alternative letter-case form of Native (aboriginal inhabitant of the Americas or Australia).
A native speaker.
A native plant or animal.
Etymology
Inherited from Middle English natif, from Old French natif, from Latin nātīvus, from nātus (“birth”). Doublet of naive and neif. Displaced native Middle English thedisch, equivalent to (puristic) theed + -ish. By surface analysis, Latin nat- + -ive. Compare also inborn.
Similar and opposite words
NATIVE at a glance
NATIVE has 6 letters and scores 9 points in Scrabble (N 1 + A 1 + T 1 + I 1 + V 4 + E 1) and 11 in Words With Friends, before board bonuses. It ranks #2,030 by how often it appears in everyday English. It is valid in ENABLE, NWL2023, Collins/SOWPODS.
Rhymes with native
All rhymesOne letter away
- DATIVE10
- SATIVE9
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