indigenous
[in-dij-uh-nuh s]
- originating in and characteristic of a particular region or country; native (often followed by to): the plants indigenous to Canada; the indigenous peoples of southern Africa.
- innate; inherent; natural (usually followed by to): feelings indigenous to human beings.
Origin of indigenous
Synonyms
See more synonyms on Thesaurus.com1. autochthonous, aboriginal, natural.
Antonyms
1. foreign, alien.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for indigenous
Contemporary Examples
Seattle is one of the most recent, with its city council voting this year to adopt the indigenous version of the holiday.
Grown in the jungle by the indigenous Kichwa, guayusa (gwhy-you-sa) is a sacred leaf used in ceremonial rituals.
Bye Bye Latté, Hello Guayusa: Why The Amazon Holds the Secret to a Cleaner, Healthier CaffeineBrandon Presser
August 29, 2014
The vine and the ceremony are deeply entwined with South American indigenous religions of the Amazon.
Paris, it would appear, had been liberated solely by indigenous Frenchmen: citizens, irregulars, and soldiers.
Who Liberated Paris in August 1944?August 24, 2014
The Social Realism and Muralist Movements from artists like Diego Rivera and José Clemente Orozco worked with indigenous crafts.
Historical Examples
The offspring of pride, and lust, and avarice, it is indigenous to the world.
The Works of Whittier, Volume VII (of VII)John Greenleaf Whittier
Grandeur, however, like sentiment, is not indigenous to the hearth.
Roden's CornerHenry Seton Merriman
Tobacco is indigenous in Mexico, and derives its name from Tabaco in Yucatan.
Aztec LandMaturin M. Ballou
There is not the slightest doubt that the Cotton plant is indigenous to Peru.
The Story of the Cotton PlantFrederick Wilkinson
There are no indigenous breeds of either cattle or sheep in this country.
indigenous
- originating or occurring naturally (in a country, region, etc); native
- innate (to); inherent (in)
Word Origin
C17: from Latin indigenus, from indigena indigene, from indi- in + gignere to beget
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for indigenous
adj.
1640s, from Late Latin indigenus "born in a country, native," from Latin indigena "sprung from the land," as a noun, "a native," literally "in-born," or "born in (a place)," from Old Latin indu "in, within" (earlier endo) + *gene-, root of gignere (perf. genui) "beget," from PIE *gen- "produce" (see genus).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
indigenous
[ĭn-dĭj′ə-nəs]
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.