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• Native American
  Native American

  noun

  Indian.
• native American
  native American

  noun

  a person born in the United States.

Native American

¹ American  

[ney-tiv uh-mer-i-kuhn] / ˈneɪ tɪv əˈmɛr ɪ kən /

noun

1. Indian.

2. a member of any of the aboriginal peoples of the Americas, including Indians and non-Indians.

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native American ² American  

noun

1. a person born in the United States.

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Native American British  

noun

1. A member of the indigenous peoples of North America

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adjective

1. of, relating to, or characteristic of Native Americans or any of their languages

Sensitive Note

See Indian, Eskimo.

Other Word Forms

• native-American
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of native American

An Americanism dating back to 1835–45

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Native American native American

Legendary Dallas Cowboys running back Emmitt Smith is among the co-defendants in a lawsuit by a Native American investment firm that claims it was scammed out of $2.5 million.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 3, 2026

That population balance helps explain why most of the more than 7,000 artifacts recovered from the site since 2006 are fragments of Native American pottery.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 22, 2026

CBP activity along the U.S.-Mexico border in Texas has generated bipartisan criticism from elected officials who say construction could cause floods, threaten the area’s tourism industry and damage historic Native American sites.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 17, 2026

Patterson wanted to center the film around a Native American woman who stops at nothing, he told AFP.

From Barron's ● Aug. 13, 2026

At its peak, some 20,000 to 30,000 people lived in Palmares, following laws and customs in which beliefs brought over directly from Africa mixed with Native American and European practices.

From "Sugar Changed the World: A Story of Magic, Spice, Slavery, Freedom, and Science" by Marc Aronson

States receiving funds had to consult with unions, native American tribes and “local community organizations” on their plans to expand broadband.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 28, 2025

He owned or leased about 18,000 acres and put them all to work: as full-sized sets representing Old West towns, a Dutch village with a windmill, Swiss and Puritan and native American and fishing settlements.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 25, 2025

Rather than lose the unique and native American tree and replace it with a newly created hybrid, they hope to cure the native species before it disappears.

From Salon ● Dec. 18, 2023

Although the variant was established in Asia as a result of interbreeding between Denisovans and sapiens, it also spread to European and native American populations.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 30, 2023

Some suggestions: an unaccompanied violin or cello sonata, a flute, oboe, trumpet, or horn concerto, Asaian or native American flute music, classical guitar, bagpipes, steel pan drums, panpipes, or organ.

From "Understanding Basic Music Theory" by Catherine Schmidt-Jones and Russel Jones