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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

While Mr. Marquis acknowledges that the Dutch were “aggressive mercantilists with a nose for profit,” he contrasts their trade-driven but fair-minded approach toward Native American peoples with the “bellicose and imperialistic English, French, and Spanish.”

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

In 2004 two U.S. anthropologists and a Venezuelan medical researcher proposed that Native American susceptibility to infectious disease might have a second cause: helper-T cells, which like HLAs help the immune system recognize foreign objects.

From "1491" by Charles C. Mann

It is estimated the spread of non native American mink saw 90% of water voles wiped out since the 1970s.

From BBC ● Jun. 30, 2026

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

Ancient music, such as Gregorian chants; new music, such as some experimental twentieth-century art music; and Non-Western music, such as some native American flute music, may not have a strong, repetitive pattern of beats.

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