ENGLISH
REFERENCE

native

n. countable
B1 Intermediate Oxford US //ˈneɪtɪv// UK //nˈeɪtɪv// na·tive Archaic General-service Vulgar

n. a person who was born in a particular place. You use this to describe someone who belongs to a country or city by birth rather than moving there later.

n. a person born in a specified place or associated with a place by birth. Often used with a prepositional phrase to indicate the specific location.


SIMPLE

She is a native of New York.

CONTEXTUAL

Although he has lived in London for twenty years, he is a native of Edinburgh and still visits his family there every summer.

COMPLEX

The museum's latest exhibit features oral histories from city natives who remember the waterfront before the industrial decline of the late twentieth century.

Synonyms
Antonyms
Origin

Inherited from Middle English natif, from Old French natif, from Latin nātīvus, from nātus (“birth”). Doublet of naive and neif.

Usage

Commonly followed by the preposition 'of' when identifying a place of origin.

Pitfall

He is a native from ItalyHe is a native of ItalyWhen used as a noun, 'native' is typically followed by 'of' rather than 'from'.

Idioms2 entries

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