Indian
noun
- citizen of India
- person indigenous to the Americas
adjective
- of or relating to the country of India in South Asia
- Of or relating to the native people of the Americas
Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /ˈɪn.dɪ.ən/ / /ˈɪn.di.ən/ / /ˈɪnɖ(ɪ)jən/
adj
Etymology: 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).
- Of or relating to India or its people; or (formerly) of the East Indies.
“An IAF representative told an Indian parliamentary committee that due to the Ukraine war a “major delivery” from Moscow “is not going to take place.””
- Eastern; Oriental.
“The morrow next apprear'd with purple hayre / Yet dropping fresh out of the Indian fount, / And bringing light into the heavens fayre […].”
- Of or relating to the indigenous peoples of the Americas.
“The hardships of bark-collecting in the primeval forests of South America are of the severest kind, and undergone only by the half-civilized Indians and people of mixed race, in the pay of speculators or companies located in the towns.”
- Made with Indian corn or maize.
“Indian bread”
“Indian meal”
- Designating any of various chess openings now characterised by black's attempt to control the board through knights and fianchettoed bishops rather than with a central pawn advance.
name
Etymology: 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).
- Any of the (unrelated) languages spoken by American Indians.
- Any language spoken by natives of India, especially Hindi.
“[They said] 'Mutton can speak Indian', 'Mutton can see Kanchinjunga out of his bedroom window'[.]”
noun
Etymology: 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).
- A person from India.
“[A]ll personnel are to be hereby ordered to refer to her as a "Kumiho," and not a "Kitsune." Personnel asking what the difference is are to be reminded of the difference between a Cherokee Indian and a New Delhi Indian.”
“Young Indians looking for work opportunities have made up a sizeable portion of undocumented migrants in the US, many after making the dangerous trek through Latin America to reach the US southern border.”
- An American Indian, a member of one of the indigenous peoples of the Americas (generally excluding the Aleut, Inuit, Metis, and Yupik).
“We stigmatize the Indians, also, as cowardly and treacherous, because they use stratagem in warfare in preference to open force; but in this they are fully justified by their rude code of honor.”
“High Jack had been drinking too much rum ever since we landed in Boca. You know how an Indian is—the palefaces fixed his clock when they introduced him to firewater.”
- An indigenous inhabitant of Australia, New Zealand or the Pacific islands.
- Ellipsis of Indian cuisine.
“Have you ever tried Indian?”
- Ellipsis of Indian meal (“meal consisting of Indian cuisine”).
“We're going out tonight for an Indian.”
- Ellipsis of Indian restaurant (“restaurant serving Indian cuisine”).
“We're going down to the Indian for a curry—wanna join us?”
- Ellipsis of Mardi Gras Indian.
- A kind of marble (spherical toy) with colored bands on an opaque black base.