1A person born in a specified place or associated with a place by birth, whether subsequently resident there or not.

1. 1.1 A local inhabitant.
   New York in the summer was too hot even for the natives

   Example sentencesExamples

   • When you travel overseas, you can get special microchips implanted in your tongue that allow you to speak the local language like a native.
   • This injustice was a catalyst in the creation of Keep York Local, the political party which demands the city's natives should come first.
   • A Gallup Poll in Moslem countries recently showed that the natives in these countries have a feeling that they are being left behind by the rest of the world.
   • While in China, he had often disguised himself as a Chinese native and used the local language to move about the countryside.
   • The smell did succeed in confusing the South African police; it made them think that the murderers might be natives of the city, because local people were fond of onion.
   • It is on this note that I return to my native Scotland for the festive season, a country whose natives are labeled as being a stingy, frugal bunch that are not much prone to bouts of giving.
   • A dashing pith helmet is certain to earn you respect from the local natives.
   • After initial shyness and plenty of cajoling by the visitors who plunged into the crowd, a few volunteered to go on stage and learnt to swing like the natives of the island.
   • As always, the rule is to twig where the natives are munching, stalk the local well-fed and you'll never go far wrong.
   • He said that while some had settled and considered themselves natives to their new country, many still viewed themselves as South Africans living abroad.
   • The natives of wine countries are generally sober.
   • Local Kentucky natives are deeply offended, claiming his work denigrates Appalachia and the South.
   • In the course of that day of drunken singing, their sober players took to the field with a mind-set to exhibit their football craft before the eyes of the little island natives.
   • A local Pasadena native, an acquaintance of mine, had told me that a fire at a pet store in Pasadena had broken out and some parrots escaped and that's why they were there.
   • After picking up a guitar for the first time when he was 18, the native of New York knew he'd found his calling.
   • Drunken games of darts in the local were watched by taciturn natives seething with resentment about property prices.
   • This was wild, hard country, whose natives were master horsemen.

   Synonyms

   inhabitant, resident, local

   aborigine

   citizen, national

   formal dweller

   rare autochthon, indigene
2. 1.2dated, offensive A non-white original inhabitant of a place, as regarded by European colonists or travellers.
3. 1.3 An animal or plant indigenous to a place.
   the marigold is a native of southern Europe

   Example sentencesExamples

   • The ruddy duck, a native of North America, is now interbreeding with its close relative.
   • Plant some natives, especially at the edge of your yard.
   • But then again, most of our crops and many of our garden plants aren't natives either.
   • A native of southern Africa, the quagga used to occur in vast herds in the Karoo regions of Cape Province and the southern part of Orange Free State.
   • The scrub that borders the tracks is overgrown with kudzu, an imported plant that strangles the natives.
   • The monk parakeet, a native of South America, has proved itself a hardy settler, able to survive the winter freezes of Chicago and Montreal.
   • The buzzard, although not a native of the Eastern Counties, is apt to appear in both Lincolnshire and Norfolk from time to time.
   • This rule doesn't apply to natives planted in containers or rock gardens or in areas with sandy soil, where the moisture drains away quicker and needs to be replaced more often.
   • Most of the recommended plants are North American natives.
   • It is the seed of the plant Vigna radiata, a native of India where it has for long been under cultivation.
   • A native of Eurasia, the adaptable Mute Swan inhabits fresh- and saltwater ponds, coastal lagoons, and bays.
   • The budgerigar is a native of the deserts of Australia.
   • Peter said natives like to be planted now as many of them enjoy the cold.
   • A white ruffle lining the middle of each petal distinguishes the plant from the two natives in the same genus.
   • It is in fact a native of Australia, so common there that it is the emblem of the state of Western Australia.
   • Like many of our natives, these plants have small leaves, often aromatic and sometimes grey and hairy.
   • It also is a native of North America, but in the late 1870s was accidentally introduced to Europe.
   • In Thomas Horton's reign, he pruned back further, replacing with deciduous exotics and natives, including kauri planted in regimental lines.
4. 1.4British An oyster reared in British waters.
   Example sentencesExamples

   • But when he asked himself a simple question - where can you buy Colchester natives in Colchester?
   • I drank close to a bottle of Chablis the other day while they hammered away fruitlessly at half a dozen natives.
   • Pacific oysters are not as esteemed as natives but turning down a plate of spanking fresh Pacifics is simply misplaced snobbery.

1Associated with the place or circumstances of a person's birth.

1. 1.1 Of the indigenous inhabitants of a place.
   a ceremonial native dance from Fiji

   Example sentencesExamples

   • Feeling forced into areas inhabited by other native communities has led to unprecedented conflicts between the Mashco-Piro and the Native Amahuaca community of Santa Cruz.
   • It is very important to recognize that the start of Canada, as we now know it, was the start of the oppression of the hundreds of nations of native people who are indigenous to here.
   • One need only note the permanent structures for sun dances and other native religious ceremonies that can be seen on most reserves.
   • But abstention from meat came naturally to the native inhabitants of India because of the climate.
   • Before the arrival of the Europeans, Guyana was inhabited by several native groups.
   • The film is a statement against globalisation and its corrupting influence on the indigenous cultures and even native languages.
   • The island was called Iere, meaning ‘the land of the hummingbird,’ by its native Amerindian inhabitants.
   • Here, even the tallest local peak, Tirich Mir, is inhabited by fairies, according to native folklore.
   • As part of the ceremony a woman was spreading eagle feathers on the crowd, sharing one of the most treasured possessions among native people, a true welcoming gesture.
   • It has seemed natural to them that, just as French is the language of France, so English is the native language of the inhabitants of England.
   • The daily schedule of events includes storytelling, dance performances, and demonstrations of native crafts from throughout the state.
   • After the departure of the Romans from Britain, the native inhabitants retained a semblance of Roman institutions.
   • Children at the Church Road school stared in awe as Francis performed some of his native Aborigine dance moves before introducing them to one of the world's oldest cultures.
   • Thousands of people came to witness a mass where the pope declared Juan Diego the first indigenous or native saint in the Americas.
   • What is most interesting about this movie is the gradual disappearance of native inhabitants and even of the mountain as backdrop.
   • There's an Indian dance called the Kathakali, from her native region of Kerala, that has been an influence on her storytelling.
   • Clothed in elaborate native costumes, Virsky isn't just acrobatic and passionate dance.
   • The book's author is a historian and geologist who writes of the prehistory of the area, its geologic formation, and its native inhabitants.
   • In the film a native chief says, ‘We thought we were the only living people in the world.’
   • Highlights of the day were the native dances and songs and other cultural shows presented by the various groups and the much fun-filled obstacle relay.

   Synonyms

   indigenous, aboriginal, original, first, earliest

   rare autochthonous, autochthonic

2(of a plant or animal) of indigenous origin or growth.

1. 2.1Australian, NZ Used in names of animals or plants resembling others familiar elsewhere, e.g. native bee.

3(of a quality) belonging to a person's character from birth; innate.

4(of a metal or other mineral) found in a pure or uncombined state.

5Computing
Designed for or built into a given system, especially denoting the language associated with a given processor, computer, or compiler, and programs written in it.