native Definition

native
adj

1. Being or belonging to the place of one's upbringing.

Thesaurus: vernacular, domestic, regional, home-born, home-bred, local, natal; Antonym: imported.
2. Born a citizen of a particular place.

Example: a native Italian
3. Belonging naturally to one; inborn or innate.

Example: native wit
Thesaurus: innate, inherent, inborn, inbred, natural, implanted, ingrained, congenital, endemic, hereditary, inherited, instinctive, inveterate; Antonym: unnatural, foreign, alien.
4. Having a particular language as one's first, or mother, tongue.

Example: my native tongue
5. Originating in a particular place.

Example: native to China
6. Belonging to the original inhabitants of a country.

Example: native Balinese music
Thesaurus: indigenous, aboriginal, primitive, autochthonous, primeval, original.
7. Natural; in a natural state.
8a. Said of metals: occurring naturally as a mineral, ie not manufactured;
8b. Said of metals: found naturally uncombined as an element, not as eg an ore.

noun

1. Someone born in a certain place.

Thesaurus: national, citizen, inhabitant, resident, dweller, countryman, denizen.
2. A plant or animal originating in a particular place.
3. often derog
One of the original inhabitants of a place as distinct from later, especially European, settlers.
Thesaurus: primitive, aborigine, indigene, autochthon.

Derivative: natively
adverb

Derivative: nativeness
noun

Idiom: go native

See under go.

Etymology: 14c: from Latin nativus natural, from nasci to be born.