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View synonyms for indigenous

indigenous

[ in-dij-uh-nuhs ]

adjective

  1. originating in and characteristic of a particular region or country; native (often followed by to ):

    the plants indigenous to Canada.

    Synonyms: natural, aboriginal, autochthonous

    Antonyms: exotic, foreign

  2. Indigenous. relating to or being a people who are the original, earliest known inhabitants of a region, or are their descendants: the Indigenous languages of the Americas.

    the Indigenous Maori of New Zealand;

    the Indigenous languages of the Americas.

  3. innate; inherent; natural (usually followed by to ):

    feelings indigenous to human beings.



indigenous

/ ɪnˈdɪdʒɪnəs; ˌɪndɪˈdʒɛnɪtɪ /

adjective

  1. originating or occurring naturally (in a country, region, etc); native
  2. innate (to); inherent (in)
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012


indigenous

/ ĭn-dĭjə-nəs /

  1. Native to a particular region or environment but occurring naturally in other places as well. The American black bear is indigenous to many different parts of North America.
  2. Compare alien


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Derived Forms

  • inˈdigenously, adverb
  • inˈdigenousness, noun
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Other Words From

  • in·dige·nous·ly adverb
  • in·dige·nous·ness in·di·gen·i·ty [in-di-, jen, -i-tee], noun
  • nonin·dige·nous adjective
  • unin·dige·nous adjective
  • unin·dige·nous·ly adverb
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Word History and Origins

Origin of indigenous1

First recorded in 1640–50; from Latin indigen(a) “native, original inhabitant” ( indi-, by-form of in- in- 2 ( indagate ) + -gena, derivative from base of gignere “to bring into being”; genital, genitor ) + -ous
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Word History and Origins

Origin of indigenous1

C17: from Latin indigenus, from indigena indigene, from indi- in + gignere to beget
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Example Sentences

Here you’ll partner with indigenous people to harvest cassavas, fish for food, and communicate only with gestures.

Now, otters threaten to deplete these profitable invertebrate fisheries, which have sustained coastal indigenous communities.

The initiative, run as a global nonprofit, would encourage the development of more microbiome collections by creating courses to train researchers across the globe to collect samples from indigenous populations in their regions.

Dominguez-Bello has worked with local researchers in Venezuela, Bolivia, Peru and Brazil to collect and study stool samples from indigenous populations in those countries.

So many indigenous communities and places in the Southwest are impacted by mining.

Islands overrun by flawed people, both indigenous and imperialist.

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.

The vine and the ceremony are deeply entwined with South American indigenous religions of the Amazon.

Many indigenous people believe consuming yagé opens up pathways to the spirit world, and allows conversations with these spirits.

Brazilian bean; the common bean, Phaseolus vulgaris, indigenous to America.

In the domain of politics I should make use of the indigenous institutions and serve them by curing them of their proved defects.

Following out the Swadeshi spirit, I observe the indigenous institutions and the village panchayats hold me.

They found human indigenous races on a few worlds, all of them at a rather low technical level, and they taught them.

Loyalty must be indigenous to a soil where, under such adverse conditions, it has taken such deep root and flourishes.

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indigenizeIndigenous Australian