Jump to content

Indian

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
See also: indian, Indián, and indián

English

[edit]

Etymology

[edit]

    From Middle English Indien, from Anglo-Norman indien, Middle French indien, corresponding to Ind +‎ -ian or India +‎ -an. Applied to inhabitants of the Americas due to an early misconception that the Americas were the eastern end of Asia / the Indies[1] (hence also the designation of Caribbean islands as the West Indies).

    Pronunciation

    [edit]

    Adjective

    [edit]

    Indian (comparative more Indian, superlative most Indian)

    1. Of or relating to India or its people; or (formerly) of the East Indies. [from 14th c.]
      Synonyms: East Indian, Indic, Hindian, Desi, (archaic) Indish
      • 2023 March 24, Rhea Mogul, “Russia can’t meet India arms deliveries due to Ukraine war, Indian Air Force says”, in CNN‎[1], Atlanta, Ga.: Warner Bros. Discovery, archived from the original on 15 June 2024:
        An IAF representative told an Indian parliamentary committee that due to the Ukraine war a “major delivery” from Moscow “is not going to take place.”
    2. (obsolete) Eastern; Oriental.
    3. Of or relating to the indigenous peoples of the Americas. [from 16th c.]
      Synonyms: Native American, Amerindian, First Nation
      • 1879, Friedrich August Flückiger et al., Pharmacographia..., page 346:
        The hardships of bark-collecting in the primeval forests of South America are of the severest kind, and undergone only by the half-civilized Indians and people of mixed race, in the pay of speculators or companies located in the towns.
    4. (Canada, US, of foods, obsolete) Made with Indian corn or maize. [from 17th c.]
      Indian bread
      Indian meal
    5. (chess) Designating any of various chess openings now characterised by black's attempt to control the board through knights and fianchettoed bishops rather than with a central pawn advance. [from 19th c.]

    Derived terms

    [edit]
    [edit]

    Translations

    [edit]

    Noun

    [edit]

    Indian (countable and uncountable, plural Indians)

    1. (countable) A person from the country of India. [from 13th c.]
      Synonyms: Asian Indian, East Indian, Hindian, Desi
      • 2025, collective, “SCP-953”, in SCP Foundation‎[2], archived from the original on 8 January 2026:
        [A]ll personnel are to be hereby ordered to refer to her as a "Kumiho," and not a "Kitsune." Personnel asking what the difference is are to be reminded of the difference between a Cherokee Indian and a New Delhi Indian.
      • 2025 February 7, Esha Mitra, Aishwarya S Iyer and Ross Adkin, “‘Treated like criminals’: Shackling of Indians aboard 40-hour migrant flight sparks new outrage against Trump”, in CNN‎[3], Atlanta, Ga.: Warner Bros. Discovery, archived from the original on 27 February 2025:
        Young Indians looking for work opportunities have made up a sizeable portion of undocumented migrants in the US, many after making the dangerous trek through Latin America to reach the US southern border.
    2. (dated) A person from the subcontinent of India.
      Synonym: South Asian
    3. (countable) An American Indian, a member of one of the indigenous peoples of the Americas (generally excluding the Aleut, Inuit, Metis, and Yupik). [from 16th c.]
      Synonyms: Amerindian, Native American, Red Indian, First Nations person; see also Thesaurus:Native American
      • 1820 July, Geoffrey Crayon [pseudonym; Washington Irving], “Traits of Indian Character”, in The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent., New York, N.Y.: […] C[ornelius] S. Van Winkle, […], →OCLC:
        We stigmatize the Indians, also, as cowardly and treacherous, because they use stratagem in warfare in preference to open force; but in this they are fully justified by their rude code of honor.
      • 1909, O. Henry [pseudonym; William Sydney Porter], “He Also Serves”, in Options‎[4]:
        High Jack had been drinking too much rum ever since we landed in Boca. You know how an Indian is—the palefaces fixed his clock when they introduced him to firewater.
      • 1951, Louis L'Amour, Rustlers of West Fork:
        With savage desperation the Indian lunged his horse straight at Hopalong and, knife in hand, leaped for him!
      • 2025, collective, “SCP-953”, in SCP Foundation‎[5], archived from the original on 6 October 2026:
        [A]ll personnel are to be hereby ordered to refer to her as a "Kumiho," and not a "Kitsune." Personnel asking what the difference is are to be reminded of the difference between a Cherokee Indian and a New Delhi Indian.
    4. (countable, obsolete) An indigenous inhabitant of Australia, New Zealand or the Pacific islands. [from 18th c.]
    5. (uncountable) Ellipsis of Indian cuisine.
      Have you ever tried Indian?
    6. (UK, countable, colloquial) Ellipsis of Indian meal (“meal consisting of Indian cuisine”). [from 20th c.]
      We're going out tonight for an Indian.
    7. (UK, countable, colloquial) Ellipsis of Indian restaurant (“restaurant serving Indian cuisine”).
      We're going down to the Indian for a curry—wanna join us?
    8. (countable) Ellipsis of Mardi Gras Indian.
    9. A kind of marble (spherical toy) with colored bands on an opaque black base.

    Derived terms

    [edit]

    Translations

    [edit]

    Proper noun

    [edit]

    Indian

    1. (nonstandard) Any of the (unrelated) languages spoken by American Indians.
    2. (nonstandard, rare) Any language spoken by natives of India, especially Hindi.
      • 1968, Anne Rider, A hilltop in hazard, page 51:
        [They said] 'Mutton can speak Indian', 'Mutton can see Kanchinjunga out of his bedroom window'[.]

    Usage notes

    [edit]
    • For the senses relating to the indigenous peoples of the Americas, see American Indian, Native American, and First Nations. "Indian" remains acceptable in English, in marked contrast to the Spanish indio and Portuguese índio, which are considered offensive in those languages.

    References

    [edit]
    1. ^ “Indian”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.

    Interlingua

    [edit]

    Pronunciation

    [edit]

    Adjective

    [edit]

    Indian

    1. Indian (of India)
    2. Native American; Indian

    Polish

    [edit]

    Etymology

    [edit]

      See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

      Pronunciation

      [edit]

      Noun

      [edit]

      Indian m pers

      1. genitive/accusative plural of Indianin
      Retrieved from "https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=Indian&oldid=95409567"