Native

Native

/ˈnādiv/

adjective

1) existing or belonging to one by nature

“Our native language is like a second skin, so much a part of us we resist the idea that it is constantly changing, constantly being renewed.”

— Casey Miller (1919 – 1997)

2) being such by birth or origin

“Coming back to your native land after an absence of many years is a surprisingly unsettling business, a little like waking from a long coma.”

— Bill Bryson (1951 – )

3) growing, living, or produced in a certain place, indigenous

“Your leaf litter can be home to a rich assortment of native plants while it is fertilizing, mulching, and watering your land.”

— from Bringing Nature Home: How Native Plants Sustain Wildlife in Our Gardens, by Douglas W. Tallamy (1951 – )

4) of, belonging to, or characteristic of the original inhabitants of a given place

“Native people prefer to be called by their specific tribal name.”

— National Museum of the American Indian

5) occurring in nature pure or uncombined with other substances

“Gold, because of its slight affinity (combining power) with other elements, is almost always found as a native metal.”

— from Gems & Geologgy, by A.G.S. Research Service (1935)

noun

6) one born in or connected with a place by birth

“That the native does not like the tourist is not hard to explain. For every native of every place is a potential tourist, and every tourist is a native of somewhere.”

— from A Small Place, by Jamaica Kincaid (1949 – )

7) an original inhabitant or lifelong resident

“The term native Conch usually refers to a lifelong resident born in the Keys.”

— Key Largo Visitor Guide