Link Centre Dictionary

Indian

in·dian

UK/ˈɪn.dɪ.ən/ US/ˈɪn.di.ən/ common uk us
noun (3) adjective (2)

noun

1.

a member of the race of people living in North America when Europeans arrived

Synonyms
2.
3.

adjective

1.

of or relating to or characteristic of India or the East Indies or their peoples or languages or cultures

  • “the Indian subcontinent”
  • “Indian saris”
2.

of or pertaining to American Indians or their culture or languages

  • “Native American religions”
  • “Indian arrowheads”
Synonyms

Origin

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 (hence also the designation of Caribbean islands as the West Indies).

Phrases

  • honest Indian
  • Pueblo Indian

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

Narrower terms

Pertaining to

Parts

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.