indigenous
adj.adj. belonging naturally to a specific place rather than arriving from somewhere else. It describes the original people, plants, or animals of a region.
adj. originating or occurring naturally in a particular place; native. When applied to people, it refers to the original inhabitants of a territory prior to colonisation or settlement by others.
The kangaroo is indigenous to Australia.
The project aims to preserve indigenous languages that are at risk of being forgotten by younger generations.
Ecologists argue that reintroducing indigenous plant species is essential for restoring the local insect population and maintaining the overall health of the regional ecosystem.
Borrowed from Late Latin indigenus (“native, born in a country”), from indi- (indu-), an old derivative of in (“in”), gen- the root of gignō (“give birth to”), and English -ous. Compare indigene, Ancient Greek ἐνδογενής (endogenḗs, “born in the house”), and the separately formed piecewise doublet endogenous. Unrelated to Indian.
Typically used with the preposition 'to' when specifying a location.
the indigenous of the areathe indigenous people of the areaIndigenous is an adjective, not a noun; it requires a following noun like 'people', 'population', or 'species'.