# Indian

Pronunciation: say "IN-dee-uhn" US /ˈɪn.di.ən/, UK /ˈɪn.dɪ.ən/

## Adjective

1. Describing things of or from India or its people, such as its places, culture, food, or languages; formerly also applied to the East Indies.
   - Simple: Belonging to or coming from the country of India or its people.
   - _The museum displayed ancient Indian sculptures from several dynasties._
   - _Indian cinema produces more feature films each year than any other country's._
4. Describing things belonging to or associated with the peoples native to North, Central, and South America, such as their lands, customs, or crafts.
   - Simple: Belonging to the native peoples who lived in the Americas before Europeans arrived.
   - _The reservation works to preserve several Indian languages once nearly lost._
   - _Federal law recognizes many Indian nations as sovereign entities._

## Noun

2. A person who is a native or citizen of India.
   - Simple: Someone who comes from the country of India.
   - _As an Indian, she felt proud watching her country's athletes compete._
   - _The conference welcomed several Indians representing major technology firms._
3. A member of one of the indigenous peoples of the Americas, generally excluding Aleut, Inuit, Metis, and Yupik peoples.
   - Simple: A member of an Indigenous people of the Americas, usually excluding Aleut, Inuit, Métis, and Yupik peoples.
   - _As an Indian raised on the reservation, he learned his people's songs early._
   - _Several Indians from neighboring nations gathered for the annual council._
5. Ellipsis of Indian cuisine. — Ellipsis of Indian cuisine.
   - Simple: Short way of saying Indian cuisine. It means food cooked in the style of India.
   - _Thai and Indian are the most popular takeout options on our street._
   - _She craved Indian after months of bland hospital meals._
6. Ellipsis of Indian restaurant. *(colloquial, UK)* — Ellipsis of Indian restaurant (“restaurant serving Indian cuisine”).
   - Simple: Short way of saying Indian restaurant. In the UK people use it to mean the place where you eat Indian food.
   - _They booked a table at the Indian for her birthday._
   - _Our local Indian does a great takeaway on weekends._

## Proper noun

8. A name for Hindi or any other language spoken by people from India. *(nonstandard)*
   - Simple: Any language spoken by people from India, especially Hindi.
   - _When we told the cab driver we wanted to learn some Indian, he laughed and said India has dozens of languages, but Hindi would be a good start._
   - _Her coworkers kept asking whether she spoke Indian, so she finally explained that her family speaks Tamil at home._
9. Any of the many languages of the indigenous peoples of the Americas, which belong to numerous separate families rather than a single one. *(nonstandard)*
   - Simple: Any of the many different languages spoken by Native Americans.
   - _Missionaries transcribed the Indian spoken by the local tribe._
   - _The old fur trader boasted that he could speak Indian, though he really knew only a few dozen words of Ojibwe._

## Adjective

7. Made with cornmeal or maize, as in certain traditional American dishes. *(dated, Canada, US)*
   - Simple: Made using cornmeal or maize.
   - _The colonial cookbook included a recipe for Indian pudding sweetened with molasses._
   - _Settlers relied on Indian meal to make their bread through the winter._
10. Of the East; eastern or Oriental. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: Coming from or belonging to eastern lands.

## Noun

11. Someone belonging to one of the indigenous peoples of Australia, New Zealand, or the Pacific islands. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: A native person of Australia, New Zealand, or the Pacific islands.

## Other meanings

- (noun) Ellipsis of Mardi Gras Indian.
- (adjective) Designating any of a family of chess openings, usually beginning 1.d4 Nf6, in which black typically challenges the center with pieces, often a fianchettoed bishop, instead of occupying it early with pawns.
- (noun) A type of glass marble with colored bands set over an opaque black base.

## Origin

Middle French and Anglo-Norman both had indien, built on Ind (India) with a suffix. The name was given to the peoples of the Americas because people once wrongly took the Americas to be the eastern end of Asia, the Indies; the same mistake explains why the Caribbean islands are called the West Indies.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/indian (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).