native
- 01 B1 Intermediate
adj.describing the place where you were born and grew up.
adj.relating to the place or circumstances of one's birth.
Simple“After twenty years in London, she finally returned to her native village in Scotland.”
In context“Despite living abroad for decades, he never lost the distinctive accent of his native city, which remained a core part of his identity.”
- 02 B2 Upper Intermediate
adj.describing plants or animals that live naturally in a place, rather than being brought there by people.
adj.originating or occurring naturally in a particular country or region; not introduced or invasive.
Simple“The park is full of native trees that provide food for local birds.”
In context“Conservationists are working to remove invasive vines that threaten to smother the native flora of the river valley.”
SynonymsAntonyms - 03 C1 Advanced
adj.describing software designed to run on a specific type of computer or system.
adj.designed for or built into a specific system or architecture, rather than running through an emulator or third-party layer.
Simple“The app runs much faster now that it has a native version for this tablet.”
In context“The developer recommended using native code to ensure the application could fully exploit the hardware's processing power without latency.”
- 04 B1 Intermediate
n.someone who was born in a particular place.
n.a person born in a specified place or associated with a place by birth.
Simple“As a native of New York, he knew all the best places to eat that tourists never found.”
In context“The festival is a point of pride for the natives of the island, who spend months preparing the traditional costumes.”
Synonyms - 05 B1 Intermediate
n.someone who has spoken a particular language since they were a baby.
n.a person who has spoken a specified language from earliest childhood.
Simple“If you have a question about a difficult phrase, ask a native.”
In context“The language school employs several natives to ensure students are exposed to natural intonation and contemporary slang.”
Synonymsfirst language speakerAntonyms - 06 C1 Advanced
n.a member of the original group of people living in a country before others arrived.
n.a member of the original inhabitants of a region, especially in a colonial context.
Simple“The museum exhibition was designed in collaboration with the local Natives.”
In context“The treaty sought to protect the land rights of the natives against further encroachment by industrial interests.”
UsageOften capitalized (Native) when referring to specific groups in North America or Australia.
Teacher's tipIn many modern contexts, using 'native' as a noun for a person can be seen as offensive or patronizing due to colonial history; 'indigenous person' or specific group names are often preferred.
SynonymsAntonymssettlercolonist
Usage native species
Inherited from Middle English natif, from Old French natif, from Latin nātīvus, from nātus (“birth”). Doublet of naive and neif.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.