indigenous

Meanings

1. 1
   adj

   Belonging to a place from the earliest times, especially before colonizers arrived.

   The museum honors the indigenous peoples of the region.

2. 2
   adj

   Naturally occurring or originating in a particular area.

   That style of pottery is indigenous to the highlands.

Borrowed 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, Ancient Greek ἐνδογενής (endogenḗs, “born in the house”), and the separately formed piecewise doublet endogenous. Unrelated to Indian.

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