- existing, growing, or produced naturally in a region or country; native: indigenous plant, indigenous to Florida
- innate; inherent; inborn
Origin of indigenous
Late Latin indigenus from Classical Latin indegena: see indigene
Indigenous people of North America.
The definition of indigenous is something or someone who is native to an area or who naturally belongs there.
An example of indigenous are the Native Americans of the United States.
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"indigenous." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 14 February 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/INDIGENOUS>.
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indigenous. (n.d.). Retrieved February 14th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/INDIGENOUS
indigenous
Webster's New World College Dictionary, Fifth Edition Copyright © 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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"indigenous." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 14 February 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/INDIGENOUS>.
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indigenous. (n.d.). Retrieved February 14th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/INDIGENOUS
indigenous
adjective
- Originating, growing, or produced in a certain place or region. See Synonyms at native.
- a. Being a member of the original inhabitants of a particular place.b. Of, belonging to, or characteristic of such inhabitants.
Origin of indigenous
From Latin indigena a native ; see indigene .Related Forms:
- in·dig′e·nous·ly
adverb
THE AMERICAN HERITAGE® DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, FIFTH EDITION by the Editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries. Copyright © 2016, 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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"indigenous." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 14 February 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/INDIGENOUS>.
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indigenous. (n.d.). Retrieved February 14th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/INDIGENOUS
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.
Compare alien
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"indigenous." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 14 February 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/INDIGENOUS>.
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indigenous. (n.d.). Retrieved February 14th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/INDIGENOUS
Adjective
(not comparable)
- (chiefly of living things) Born or engendered in, native to a land or region, especially before an intrusion. [from 17th c.]
- Innate, inborn. [from 19th c.]
Origin
From Late Latin indigenus (“native, born in a country”), from indi- (indu-), an old derivative of in (“in”), gen- the root of gignō (“give birth to”), and English -ous. Compare indigene and ancient Greek ἐνδογενής (endogenēs), "endogenous".
English Wiktionary. Available under CC-BY-SA license.
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"indigenous." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 14 February 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/INDIGENOUS>.
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indigenous. (n.d.). Retrieved February 14th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/INDIGENOUS
indigenous - Medical Definition
adj.
- Originating, growing, or produced in a certain place or region.
- Being a member of the original inhabitants of a particular place.
- Relating to, belonging to, or characteristic of such inhabitants.
Related Forms:
- in·dig′e·nous·ly
adv.
The American Heritage Dictionary of Medicine © 2018 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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MLA Style
"indigenous." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 14 February 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/INDIGENOUS>.
APA Style
indigenous. (n.d.). Retrieved February 14th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/INDIGENOUS
Sentence Examples
- The most indigenous inhabitants were the American Indians.
- They were looking for indigenous Australians.
- They were our indigenous peoples, our first peoples, our first speakers and our first hearers.
- It is found in the Andean regions of Chile and Peru and is also indigenous to parts of Morocco.
- The rioters were predominantly from the Hausa Fulani tribe, which is not indigenous to the area.
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WORDS NEAR indigenous IN THE DICTIONARY
- indigenous
- indigenity
- indigenization
- indigenizations