native
Pluralnatives
Pluralnatives
- 1
- 2Living or growing naturally in a place, not brought there from another country or region.
The market sells native fruits grown on the island.
Sunflowers are native to North America and were later taken to Europe.
UsageSay native to a place: native to North America.
Oppositealien
- 3Having to do with the people who have lived in a place since very ancient times.
The museum displays native art from before European contact.
They studied native customs that go back thousands of years.
UsageWrite it with a capital in names like Native American.
Similarindigenous, aboriginal
- 4Belonging to you from the time you were born.
Like the language you first spoke as a small child: it is part of you from the start.
English is her native language.
They returned to their native country after years abroad.
UsageOften native language or native country: the one you were born into.
Similarhome
Oppositeforeign
Note
- 5Made to work directly on a certain computer or system, not through extra software.
Like a key cut to fit one lock exactly, with no need for an extra tool.
The game runs better as a native app on this phone.
They built a native version for each operating system.
Note
- 6Someone who grew up speaking a language as their first language.
Only a native could hear the slight difference between those two sounds.
The language app pairs learners with natives for daily conversation.
UsagePeople usually say native speaker: a native speaker of Spanish.
- 7A plant or animal that grows or lives in a place naturally and was not brought there by people.
This small brown frog is a native of the island.
We filled the garden with natives, so it needs very little water.
UsageSay a native of a place. Gardeners say they plant natives.
- 8Being the first or original form of something.
Cooking an egg changes its proteins from their native shape.
The stone was left in its native state.
UsageOften in its native state: in its first, natural form.
Similaroriginal
Note
Less common meanings
- 9A person whose ancestors were the first people of a place, not settlers from elsewhere.
Old colonial letters often call the people who already lived there natives.
Mail trains are limited to first and second class passengers, but on the mixed trains third class is also provided, and this is patronised exclusively by natives.
1940, O. S. M. Raw, “The Rhodesia Railways—II”UsageMany people find this hurtful today. Say Indigenous people, or use the people's own name.
Note
- 10Belonging to someone naturally from birth, not learned.
Like being born with brown eyes: it comes with you, not something you pick up.
Her native talent for music showed at an early age.
He relied on his native good sense to solve the problem.
Similarinnate, inborn, natural, inherent, instinctive
- 11Found in nature in pure form, not joined with other substances.
Like finding a gold nugget already pure, not mixed inside other rock.
Miners sometimes find native gold in the rock.
Native copper can be shaped without melting it down.
UsagePut it before the element's name: native gold.
Note
- 12Naturally linked or connected to something else.
Long lines and loud traffic are native to big city life.
Fears like these are native to childhood.
UsageSay native to something: native to childhood.
Note
- 13A type of European oyster valued as food.
Showing meanings only.
Practice
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Origin
Its root is Latin nātīvus, from nātus meaning "born." It reached English through Old French and Middle English.