native English · revision 3910

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1374|origins=la nāscī}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /ˈneɪ.tɪv/, US /ˈneɪ.t̬ɪv/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|natif]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) [[bor|fro|natif|t=native, born in; raw, unspoiled]] and directly [[der|la|nātīvus|t=innate, produced by birth]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) from [[m|la|nātus]], past participle of [[m|la|nāscī|t=to be born]] (Old Latin gnāscī),^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) related to gignere “to beget”,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) from [[ine-pro|*ǵenh₁-|alt=*gene-|t=to give birth, beget]].^(Etymonline) The noun is from the adjective and in part from Medieval Latin nātīvus.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) It is a doublet of [[naive]] and related to [[nation]], [[nature]] and [[kin]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Natural, inborn, hereditary: about 1374 in the OED,^(OED 1989) about 1385 in Chaucer's Troilus according to Barnhart,^(Barnhart 1988) and the late 14th century in Etymonline.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ From the early 15th century it meant “born in a particular place, not exotic or foreign”, as in ''native land'',^(Etymonline) and also “born in servitude”, a sense now obsolete.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) The noun first meant a person born in bondage, a serf (mid-15th century).^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) “One born in a certain place” is from 1535, in the Coverdale Bible.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) From about 1600 it was applied to the original inhabitants of countries where Europeans held power,^(Etymonline) American Indians by the 1630s.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) It was used contemptuously of the locals from 1800.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) In Australia it meant a white person born in the country (1861).^(OED 1989) Of metals and minerals found pure in nature it is from the 1690s.^(Etymonline) ''Native American'' was the name of a journal by about 1900, and activists adopted it in the early 1970s.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1374 – natural, inborn.^(OED 1989)

+ * early 15th century – born in a place.^(Etymonline)

+ * c. 1450 – noun, a born serf.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1535 – one born in a place.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1600 – an original inhabitant.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1690s – of metals, pure.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1800 – the locals, contemptuously.^(Etymonline)

+ * early 1970s – ''Native Americans''.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Existing in a person by nature; [[innate]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # Being such by birth or origin: ''a native Spaniard''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # Belonging to one by the place of one's birth: ''native land'', ''native language''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # Originating or growing in a certain place; [[indigenous]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # Of a metal or mineral, occurring pure in nature.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # A person born in a particular place.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # An original inhabitant or lifelong resident of a place.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # An animal or plant that originated in a particular region.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[natively]]

+ * [[nativeness]]

+ * [[nativism]]

+ * [[unnative]]

+ * [[native-born]]

+ * [[nonnative]]

+ * [[native companion]]

+ * [[native son]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[naive]]

+ * [[nation]]

+ * [[nature]]

+ * [[nativity]]

+ * [[kin]]

+ * [[genus]]

+ * [[innate]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The American Heritage distinguishes native, of birth or origin in a place, from indigenous, endemic, autochthonous and aboriginal.^(AHD)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}