Synonyms for native
- adjective
- noun
Most common
Synonyms by meaning
Adjective
1. Indigenous — original; constituting the original substance of anything
indigenous, natural, aboriginal, autochthonous, vernacular, inborn, endemic, innate, wild, original, congenital, intrinsic, genuine, inherent, artless, connate, autochthonal rare, connatural rare, enchorial rare
Other
in-bred, native-born, homegrown, natal, endogenous, unartificial rare, nonforeign rare
Noun
2. Citizen
Definitions
- adj. 1
Original; constituting the original substance of anything.
- n. 1
A person who is native to a place; a person who was born in a place.
- n. 2
A person of aboriginal descent, as distinguished from a person who was or whose ancestors were foreigners or settlers/colonizers. Alternative letter-case form of Native (aboriginal inhabitant of the Americas or Australia).
Related words
- Word family
- native-born nativist natural nativity
- Phrases
- native land native language native soil go native native advertising native wit native bear native fuchsia
- Is a kind of
- original primordial primeval
Forms
- Plural
- natives → aborigines, indigenes, indigens, citizens…
Choose the right word
Native denotes that which belongs to one by birth; natal that which pertains to the event of birth; natural denotes that which rests upon inherent qualities of character or being. We speak of one's native country, or of his natal day; of natural ability, native genius.
J. C. Fernald, English Synonyms and Antonyms (1914)
Example sentences
- indigenous They need to get rid of the indigenous population.
- aboriginal Layla reached an Aboriginal settlement in safety.
- vernacular I write Berber in its Kabyle vernacular form.
Popularity over time
| Word | 1850 → 2019 | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| native | steady | |
| indigenous | rising | |
| aboriginal | steady | |
| vernacular | rising | |
| autochthonous | steady |
Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.
By length
- 4 letters
- home1, wild1
- 5 letters
- natal2
- 6 letters
- innate2, inborn2
- 7 letters
- country2, natural3, genuine3, citizen3, endemic3, denizen3, artless, connate, indigen
- 8 letters
- original4, domestic3, inherent3, indigene, homeling
- 9 letters
- intrinsic3, homegrown2, aborigine5, enchorial
- 10 letters
- indigenous4, aboriginal5, congenital4, vernacular4, endogenous4, inhabitant4, connatural, nonforeign
- 12 letters
- autochthonal, unartificial
- 13 letters
- autochthonous
The small number after each word is its number of syllables (natal2 = 2 syllables).
In other languages
- Français
- autochtone
- Italiano
- aborigeno
- Español
- autóctono
- Deutsch
- autochthon
- Català
- autòcton