being the place or environment in which a person was born, or the place or environment in which a thing came into being:[before a noun]returned to his native land.
belonging to a person by birth or to a thing by nature; inherent:[before a noun]the desert's native beauty.
Physical Anthropologybelonging to or originating in a certain place; local:The dancers wore their native dress.
born in a particular place:[before a noun]a native New Yorker.
Language Varieties, Linguisticsof or relating to something first learned by a person:English is his native language.
being the place or environment in which a person was born or a thing came into being:one's native land.
belonging to a person by birth or to a thing by nature; inherent:native ability; native grace.
Physical Anthropologybelonging by birth to a people regarded as indigenous to a certain place, esp. a preliterate people:Native guides accompanied the expedition through the rain forest.
of indigenous origin, growth, or production:native pottery.
of, pertaining to, or characteristic of the indigenous inhabitants of a place or country:native customs; native dress.
born in a particular place or country:a native New Yorker.
Language Varieties, Linguisticsof or pertaining to a language acquired by a person before or to the exclusion of any other language:Her native language is Greek.
Language Varieties, Linguisticspertaining to or characteristic of a person using his or her native language:a native speaker of English; native command of a language.
under the rule of natives:a native government.
occupied by natives:the native quarter of Algiers.
remaining or growing in a natural state; unadorned or unchanged:the native beauty of a desert island.
forming the source or origin of a person or thing:He returned to his native Kansas.
originating naturally in a particular country or region, as animals or plants.
found in nature rather than produced artificially, as a mineral substance:the difference between native and industrial diamonds.
[Chem., Mineral.](of metals) occurring in nature pure or uncombined:native copper.
belonging to a person as a birthright:to deprive a person of his native rights.
Computing
designed for use with a specific type of computer:writing native applications for 32-bit PCs.
internal to a specific application program:to view the file in its native format.
[Archaic.]closely related, as by birth.
Informal Terms, Idiomsgo native, to adopt or affect the manners or way of life of a place or environment that is different from one's own, esp. a less developed country:After living on the island for a year, we went native and began to wear the local costume.
n.
one of the people indigenous to a place or country, esp. as distinguished from strangers, foreigners, colonizers, etc.:the natives of Chile.
a person born in a particular place or country:a native of Ohio.
Biologyan organism indigenous to a particular region.
British Terms, Invertebratesan oyster reared in British waters, esp. in an artificial bed.
Astrologya person born under a particular planet.
Latin, as above
Middle French
Latin nātīvus inborn, natural, equivalent. to nāt(us) (past participle of nāscī to be born) + -īvus -ive; replacing Middle English natif (adjective, adjectival)
1325–75
na′tive•ly, adv. na′tive•ness, n.
2.See corresponding entry in Unabridged inherited, innate, inbred, congenital.
4.See corresponding entry in Unabridged autochthonous, aboriginal.
11.See corresponding entry in Unabridged real, genuine, original.
19.See corresponding entry in Unabridged aborigine.
2.See corresponding entry in Unabridged acquired.
19.See corresponding entry in Unabridged alien
native, +adj.
Computing
Computingdesigned for use with a specific type of computer:writing native applications for 32-bit PCs.
Computinginternal to a specific application program:to view the file in its native format.