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)