native

Meanings

1. 1
   adj

   belonging to one by birth

   my native land

2. 2
   adj

   characteristic of or existing by virtue of geographic origin

   the native North American sugar maple

3. 3
   adj

   characteristic of or relating to people inhabiting a region from the beginning

   native Americans

4. 4
   adj

   as found in nature in the elemental form

   native copper

5. 5
   noun

   an indigenous person who was born in a particular place

   the art of the natives of the northwest coast

6. 6
   noun

   a person born in a particular place or country

   I am a native of Brazil – my Brazilian passport shows this.

7. 7
   adj

   Belonging to one by birth.

   This is my native land.

8. 8
   adj

   Born or grown in the region in which it lives or is found; not foreign or imported.

   a native inhabitant

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.