Indo-European

[ in-doh-yoor-uh-pee-uhn ]

/ ˈɪn doʊˌyʊər əˈpi ən /

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Definition of Indo-European

noun

a large, widespread family of languages, the surviving branches of which include Italic, Slavic, Baltic, Hellenic, Celtic, Germanic, and Indo-Iranian, spoken by about half the world's population: English, Spanish, German, Latin, Greek, Russian, Albanian, Lithuanian, Armenian, Persian, Hindi, and Hittite are all Indo-European languages. Abbreviation: IECompare family (def. 16).

Proto-Indo-European (def. 1).

a member of any of the peoples speaking an Indo-European language.

adjective

of or belonging to Indo-European.

speaking an Indo-European language: an Indo-European people.

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Origin of Indo-European

First recorded in 1805–15; Indo- + European

OTHER WORDS FROM Indo-European

non-In·do-Eu·ro·pe·an, adjective, noun

Words nearby Indo-European

Indocin, indoctrinate, indoctrinated, indoctrination, indocyanine green, Indo-European, Indo-Europeanist, Indo-Germanic, Indo-Hittite, Indo-Iranian, indolaceturia

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use Indo-European in a sentence

There are reasons that European countries tend to avoid fluoride.
Anti-Fluoriders Are The OG Anti-Vaxxers|Michael Schulson|July 27, 2016|DAILY BEAST
We do see that a few European countries have them on the books: Germany, Poland, Italy, Ireland, a couple more.
In Defense of Blasphemy|Michael Tomasky|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST
In front of this strange structure are two blank-faced, well-dressed models showing off the latest in European minimalism.
New York’s Most Tragic Ghost Loves Minimalist Swedish Fashion|Nina Strochlic|January 8, 2015|DAILY BEAST
But outside of a few European countries and Quebec, this leave is usually two weeks or less and usually unpaid.
How Good Dads Can Change the World|Gary Barker, PhD, Michael Kaufman|January 6, 2015|DAILY BEAST

Those who served abroad were treated with suspicion that they had been infected by European diplomacy.
U.S. Embassies Have Always Been for Sale|William O’Connor|January 2, 2015|DAILY BEAST
We can readily see how this might have been, from numerous experiments made with both American and European varieties.
Tobacco; Its History, Varieties, Culture, Manufacture and Commerce|E. R. Billings.
European tobacco is lacking in flavor and is less powerful than the tobacco of America.
Tobacco; Its History, Varieties, Culture, Manufacture and Commerce|E. R. Billings.
These shipments in the past have been financed through credits drawn on European centers.
Readings in Money and Banking|Chester Arthur Phillips
The flower stems on the American varieties are much longer than those of European tobaccos and also larger.
Tobacco; Its History, Varieties, Culture, Manufacture and Commerce|E. R. Billings.
Hence it was that he found in Great Britain an implacable enemy ever stirring up against him European coalitions.
Napoleon's Marshals|R. P. Dunn-Pattison

British Dictionary definitions for Indo-European

Indo-European

adjective

denoting, belonging to, or relating to a family of languages that includes English and many other culturally and politically important languages of the world: a characteristic feature, esp of the older languages such as Latin, Greek, and Sanskrit, is inflection showing gender, number, and case

denoting or relating to the hypothetical parent language of this family, primitive Indo-European

denoting, belonging to, or relating to any of the peoples speaking these languages

noun

the Indo-European family of languages

Also called: primitive Indo-European, Proto-Indo-European the reconstructed hypothetical parent language of this family

a member of the prehistoric people who spoke this language

a descendant of this people or a native speaker of an Indo-European language

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