Indian

American  

[in-dee-uhn] / ˈɪn di ən /

noun

Indians plural

1. Also called American Indian, Amerind, Amerindian, Native American.  a member of any of the aboriginal peoples of the Americas, especially of subarctic North America, excluding the Inuit, Yupik, and Aleut.

2. any of the Indigenous languages of the American Indians. Ind

3. a member of any of the peoples native to or inhabiting India or the East Indies.

4. a citizen of the Republic of India.

5. Slang. a person who performs a required task or carries out the instructions of superiors.

   We have too many chiefs and not enough Indians.

6. Astronomy. the constellation Indus.

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adjective

1. of, relating to, or characteristic of the American Indians or their languages.

2. of, relating to, or characteristic of India or the East Indies.

3. made of Indian corn.

   Indian meal.

4. Zoogeography. oriental.

5. Phytogeography. belonging or pertaining to a geographical division comprising India south of the Himalayas, and Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

Indian British  

/ ˈɪndɪən /

noun

1. a native, citizen, or inhabitant of the Republic of India

2. old-fashioned a Native American

3. (not in scholarly usage) any of the languages of Native Americans

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adjective

1. of, relating to, or characteristic of India, its inhabitants, or any of their languages

2. (Not in scholarly usage) of, relating to, or characteristic of Native Americans or any of their languages

Sensitive Note

Because Christopher Columbus mistakenly believed that the Caribbean island on which he had landed was the subcontinent of India, he called the inhabitants Indians. Eventually, that name was applied to almost all the Indigenous, non-European inhabitants of North and South America. In modern times Indian may refer to an inhabitant of the subcontinent of India or of the East Indies, to a citizen of the Republic of India, or to a member of an aboriginal American people. However, the term Indian is not applied to the Inuit, Yupik, and Aleut of Arctic North America. In the 18th century the term American Indian came to be used for the aboriginal inhabitants of the United States and Canada; it now includes the aboriginal peoples of South America as well. (When necessary, further distinctions are made with such terms as North American Indian and South American Indian. ) The terms Amerindian and Amerind subsequently developed in the attempt to reduce ambiguity. The most recent designation, especially in North America, is Native American. American Indians themselves tend to favor the terms Indian, American Indian, or a specific tribal name. They sometimes refer to themselves collectively as Indian peoples. All these terms appear in edited writing. Whether one or several will gain ascendancy over the others remains to be seen. See Eskimo. See also honest Injun, Indian giver.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• pre-Indian
  noun
• anti-Indian
  adjective
• non-Indian
  adjective
• pro-Indian
  adjective
• pseudo-Indian
  adjective
• trans-Indian
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• Indians
  plural

Etymology

Origin of Indian

First recorded in 1350–1400; from Medieval Latin Indiānus; replacing Middle English Indien, from Old French, from Medieval Latin as above; see India, -an

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Indian Indians

He played ballet dancer Billy Elliot in the West End before appearing as Naomi Watts’s son in 2012’s Oscar-nominated “The Impossible,” about the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 3, 2026

"Playing with so many great players and icons of Indian cricket at MI has opened me up to a lot of new things and skills. That experience, you can't buy that."

From BBC ● Aug. 3, 2026

The Indian city of Ahmedabad now stands where Victoria did four years ago - as the next hosts of an event that will celebrate its 100th anniversary in 2030.

From BBC ● Aug. 2, 2026

Srinivasan, 46, grew up on Long Island the son of Indian immigrant physicians.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 1, 2026

Ophie fell quiet as the story of a man falling in love with an Indian princess on a rugged frontier began to unspool.

From "Ophie's Ghosts" by Justina Ireland

"Social media has now permeated to the smallest towns in India, and has near ubiquity among young Indians," he told AFP.

From Barron's ● Jul. 29, 2026

It comes two days after Dharmendra Pradhan resigned as education minister over repeated failures in the conduct of competitive exams that have fuelled anger among millions of young Indians.

From Barron's ● Jul. 27, 2026

It began with a fear familiar to millions of young Indians: if the examinations that determine their future cannot be trusted, what can?

From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2026

According to a Pew Research Center survey, only about 30% of Indians belong to “general castes” ineligible for caste-based quota benefits.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 15, 2026

Also during the war, future president Andrew Jackson leads an attack on Seminole Indians in western Florida.

From "In the Shadow of Liberty" by Kenneth C. Davis