American Indian

American  

noun

1. Indian.

2. Amerind. AmerInd

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American Indian British  

noun

1. Also called: Native American.  a member of any of the indigenous peoples of North, Central, or South America, esp those of North America

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adjective

1. Also: Amerindian.  of or relating to any of these peoples, their languages, or their cultures

Sensitive Note

See Indian.

Usage

This term is still acceptable and is widely used by American Indians themselves. The most accepted phrase in general use nowadays is Native American

Etymology

Origin of American Indian

First recorded in 1725–35

Example Sentences

The ordinance included language that excludes equestrian events, as well as American Indian, Native American, Indigenous Rodeo, Mexican Charreria and Escaramuza events that don’t involve the activities cited in the law.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 9, 2026

Previous Stanford-led research showed that long-term NO2 exposure is 60 percent higher in American Indian and Alaska Native households and 20 percent higher in Black and Hispanic or Latino households compared to the national average.

From Science Daily • Dec. 3, 2025

The announcement follows a mid-November meeting with King and members of the Tribal Alliance Against Frauds, a US-based group dedicated to exposing people who falsely claim American Indian heritage.

From BBC • Nov. 25, 2025

Torn between fighting and the need to feed their families, the American Indian warriors could not sustain a prolonged war.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 31, 2025

After lowering a torpedo filled with nitroglycerin into the belly of the earth, the muddied workers would detonate it, occasionally turning up a fragment of an ancient American Indian spear or an arrowhead.

From "Killers of the Flower Moon" by David Grann