Meanings
-
1
adj
Connected with the place where you were born.
She returned to her native country after twenty years abroad.
-
2
adj
Living or growing naturally in a particular place, not brought in from elsewhere.
The sugar maple is native to North America.
-
3
noun
A person who was born in a particular place or country.
He is a native of Brazil.
-
4
adj
Belonging to the original people who lived in a region.
The museum displays the art of the native peoples of the region.
Thesaurus
Common collocations
Etymology
Inherited from Middle English natif, from Old French natif, from Latin nātīvus, from nātus (“birth”). Doublet of naive and neif. Displaced native Middle English thedisch, equivalent to (puristic) theed + -ish. Compare also inborn.
View etymology graph ->