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Origin and history of indigenous

indigenous(adj.)

"born or originating in a particular place," 1640s, from Late Latin indigenus "born in a country, native," from Latin indigena "sprung from the land, native," as a noun, "a native," literally "in-born," or "born in (a place)," from Old Latin indu (prep.) "in, within" + gignere (perfective genui) "to beget, produce" (from PIE root *gene- "give birth, beget," with derivatives referring to procreation and familial and tribal groups).

Indu "within" is from archaic endo, which is cognate with Greek endo- "in, within," from PIE *endo-, extended form of root *en "in" (Watkins). Related: Indigenously.

For Latin indigenis, Wycliffe's bible (1382) has withinneborn, for indigena, withinnegoten. Native words for natives of a place tended to form from the "land" notion; such as late Old English londes-man "inhabitant of a place, native of the land," land-folc "inhabitants of a land, natives," inlendisc (adj.) "native, belonging to a country" (obsolete, but compare outlandish).


indigenous

also from 1640s

Entries linking to indigenous

outlandish(adj.)

Old English utlendisc "of a foreign country, not native," from utland "foreign land," literally "outland" (see out- + land (n.)) + -ish. The original sense is archaic or obsolete. The meaning "unfamiliar, strange, odd, uncouth, bizarre" (such as the customs of foreigners may seem to natives) is attested from 1590s. Compare German ausländisch, Danish udenlandsk, etc. Old English utland also could mean "land lying beyond the limits of occupation or cultivation," a sense that survived into Modern English. Related: Outlandishly; outlandishness.

indigene(adj.)

"native, indigenous," 1590s, from French indigène (16c.), from Latin indigena "sprung from the land," as a noun, "a native," literally "in-born" (see indigenous). As a noun, "one who or that which is native, an aborigine," from 1660s. Holinshed has homeling, which he said translates indigena "in an old book that I have."

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canary
Canary-bird, 1570s), from French canarie, from Spanish canario "canary bird," literally "of the Canary Islands" (where it is indigenous...[Recent DNA analysis (2019) of ancient remains on the island suggest the indigenous people were of typical North African...
magnolia
plant genus indigenous to subtropical Asia and eastern North America, very ornamental and frequently cultivated, 1748, named...
Catalan
"pertaining to Catalonia," also as a noun, "person from Catalonia," late 15c., from the indigenous name, which is said to...
Chamorro
indigenous people of Guam and the Marianas Islands, 1905, from Spanish Chamorro, literally "shorn, shaven, bald."...
Algeria
Related: Algerian (1620s); a resident of the place (especially indigenous, as opposed to French colonists) also could be...
Arab
form), from Old French Arabi, from Latin Arabs (accusative Arabem), from Greek Araps (genitive Arabos), from Arabic 'arab, indigenous...
Hungary
The Turkish name for the country, Macaristan, reflects the indigenous name....
case
early 13c., "what befalls one; state of affairs," from Old French cas "an event, happening, situation, quarrel, trial," from Latin casus "a chance, occasion, opportunity; accident, mishap," literally "a falling," from cas-, past-participle stem of cadere "to fall, sink, settle do
Egypt
Old English Egipte "the Egyptians," from French Egypte, from Greek Aigyptos "the river Nile, Egypt," from Amarna Hikuptah, corresponding to Egyptian Ha(t)-ka-ptah "temple of the soul of Ptah," the creative god associated with Memphis, the ancient city of Egypt. Strictly one of th
meticulous
1530s, "fearful, timid," a sense now obsolete, from Latin meticulosus, metuculosus "fearful, timid," literally "full of fear," from metus "fear, dread, apprehension, anxiety," a word of unknown origin. The old word seems to have become archaic after c. 1700, fossilized in a passa

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