Native

How to spell native

6 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce native

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does native mean?

1. adjectiveBelonging to a person, place or thing by birth or origin.
2. nounA person born in a particular place or associated with it from birth.

Native in a sentence

• adjective

  French is her native language, learned long before she studied English.

• noun

  As a native of Lisbon, she knew every quiet side street in the old quarter.

• adjective

  The garden is planted entirely with native shrubs that thrive in the local soil.

• noun

  The guide was a native and could answer every question about the region's history.

Where does native come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin nativus, meaning 'innate' or 'produced by birth', which was built on natus, the past participle of the verb nasci, 'to be born'. The same nasci root gives English a whole family of birth-related words, including 'nation', 'nature', 'innate' and even 'naive', all of which share the idea of something coming into being. English took 'native' through Old French in the late 1300s, where it first described things that were inborn or original to a person or place. Over time the sense broadened to cover people born in a particular country and the languages, plants and animals belonging there naturally. The steady -ive ending and the single 't' are the main spots writers pause over, but remembering the link to 'nation' and 'nature' anchors the spelling.

How the word is built

• nat- (from Latin natus: born)
• -ive (adjective/noun suffix)