Definition of indian Indian

/ɪˈndiʌn/ - [indeeun] - In•di•an

We found 23 definitions of indian from 7 different sources.

What does indian mean?

WordNet

Noun
indian - a member of the race of people living in America when Europeans arrived
		American Indian, Red Indian
		amerindian, native american any member of the peoples living in North or South America before the Europeans arrived
		amerindian race, indian race usually included in the Mongoloid race
		derogation, disparagement, depreciation (law) the partial taking away of the effectiveness of a law; a partial repeal or abolition of a law; "any derogation of the common law is to be strictly construed"
		algonquian, algonquin family of North American Indian languages spoken from Labrador to South Carolina and west to the Great Plains
		anasazi a Native American who lived in what is now southern Colorado and Utah and northern Arizona and New Mexico and who built cliff dwellings
		athabascan, athabaskan, athapascan, athapaskan a group of Amerindian languages (the name coined by an American anthropologist, Edward Sapir)
		maya, mayan a family of American Indian languages spoken by Maya
		nahuatl the Uto-Aztecan language spoken by the Nahuatl
		olmec
		zapotec, zapotecan the language of the Zapotec
		buffalo indian, plains indian a member of one of the tribes of American Indians who lived a nomadic life following the buffalo in the Great Plains of North America
		chickasaw the Muskhogean language of the Chickasaw
		coeur d'alene a town in the northern panhandle of Idaho; popular resort area
		creek any member of the Creek Confederacy (especially the Muskogee) formerly living in Georgia and Alabama but now chiefly in Oklahoma
		haida the Na-Dene language of the Haida
		hoka, hokan a family of Amerindian languages spoken in California
		iroquois any member of the warlike North American Indian peoples formerly living in New York State; the Iroquois League were allies of the British during the American Revolution
		muskhogean, muskogean a family of North American Indian languages spoken in the southeastern United States
		penutian a family of Amerindian language spoken in the great interior valley of California
		pueblo a communal village built by Indians in the southwestern United States
		injun, red man, redskin (slang) offensive term for Native Americans
		salish a family of Mosan language spoken in northwestern United States and western Canada
		shoshoni, shoshone the language spoken by the Shoshone (belonging to the Uto-Aztecan family)
		taracahitian a member of a group of peoples of Mexico
		tlingit the Na-Dene language spoken by the Tlingit
		wakashan a family of North American Indian languages of British Columbia and Washington
		aleutian, aleut the language spoken by the Aleut
		inuit, eskimo, esquimau the language spoken by the Eskimo
		paleo-american, paleo-amerind, paleo-indian a member of the Paleo-American peoples who were the earliest human inhabitants of North America and South America during the late Pleistocene epoch
		sannup a married male American Indian
indian - a native or inhabitant of India
		asian, asiatic a native or inhabitant of Asia
		bharat, india, republic of india a republic in the Asian subcontinent in southern Asia; second most populous country in the world; achieved independence from the United Kingdom in 1947
		indian race usually included in the Mongoloid race
		assamese the Magadhan language spoken by the Assamese people; closely related to Bengali
		dravidian a large family of languages spoken in south and central India and Sri Lanka
		gujarati, gujerati the Indic language spoken by the people of India who live in Gujarat in western India
		kashmiri the official state language of Kashmir
		oriya a Magadhan language that is spoken by the Oriya and is the official language of the Indian state of Orissa
		panjabi, punjabi the Indic language spoken by most people in Punjab in northwestern India
		mahratta, maratha a member of a people of India living in Maharashtra
		romani, rommany, gipsy, roma, romany, bohemian, gypsy the Indic language of the Gypsies
indian - any of the languages spoken by Amerindians
		Amerind, Amerindian language, American-Indian language, American Indian, Indian
		natural language, tongue a human written or spoken language used by a community; opposed to e.g. a computer language
		algonquian language, algonquian, algonquin family of North American Indian languages spoken from Labrador to South Carolina and west to the Great Plains
		atakapan, attacapa, atakapa, attacapan a language spoken by the Atakapa of the Gulf Coast of Louisiana and Texas
		athapaskan language, athabascan, athabaskan, athapascan, athapaskan a group of Amerindian languages (the name coined by an American anthropologist, Edward Sapir)
		muskhogean language, muskogean language, muskhogean, muskogean a family of North American Indian languages spoken in the southeastern United States
		na-dene a family of North American Indian languages
		mosan a family of Amerindian languages spoken in Washington and British Columbia
		caddoan, caddoan language, caddo a family of North American Indian languages spoken widely in the Midwest by the Caddo
		iroquoian, iroquoian language, iroquois a family of North American Indian languages spoken by the Iroquois
		kechuan, quechuan, quechuan language, kechua, quechua the language of the Quechua which was spoken by the Incas
		maracan language, maraco the language spoken by the Maraco
		tupi-guarani, tupi-guarani language a family of South American Indian languages
		arawak, arawakan a family of South American Indian languages spoken in northeastern South America
		caribbean language, carib the family of languages spoken by the Carib
		uto-aztecan, uto-aztecan language a family of American Indian languages
		mayan language, maya, mayan a family of American Indian languages spoken by Maya
		siouan language, siouan a family of North American Indian languages spoken by the Sioux
		tanoan, tanoan language a family of North American Indian language spoken in southwestern United States
		hoka, hokan a family of Amerindian languages spoken in California
Adjective Indian, indianer, indianest
indian - of or pertaining to American Indians or their culture or languages; "Native American religions"; "Indian arrowheads"
		Amerind, Amerindic, Native American
		red indian, american indian, indian a member of the race of people living in America when Europeans arrived
indian - of or relating to or characteristic of India or the East Indies or their peoples or languages or cultures; "the Indian subcontinent"; "Indian saris"

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Wiktionary

indian (Noun)
Person from India.
indian (Noun)
A member of one of the indigenous peoples of the Americas but not a member of the Aleut, Inuit, Metis, or Yupik.
indian (Noun)
An Australian Aborigine .
indian (Noun)
A Maori.
indian (Noun)
An Indian meal.
indian (Adjective)
Of or relating to India or its people.
indian (Adjective)
Of or relating to the indigenous peoples of the Americas but not the Aleut, Inuit, Metis, or Yupik.

Webster DictionaryWebster's Unabridged Dictionary 📘

indian (a.)
Of or pertaining to India proper; also to the East Indies, or, sometimes, to the West Indies.
indian (a.)
Of or pertaining to the aborigines, or Indians, of America; as, Indian wars; the Indian tomahawk.
indian (a.)
Made of maize or Indian corn; as, Indian corn, Indian meal, Indian bread, and the like.
indian (n.)
A native or inhabitant of India.
indian (n.)
One of the aboriginal inhabitants of America; -- so called originally from the supposed identity of America with India.

OmegaWiki DictionaryOmegaWiki Dictionary Ω

indian
A citizen of India or a person who originated from India.
indian
A member of any of the original peoples of North and South America.
indian
Of or relating to the original peoples of North and South America.

Chambers DictionaryChamber's 20th Century Dictionary 📕

indian
in′di-an, adj. belonging to the Indies, East or West, or to the aborigines of America.—n. a native of the Indies: a European who lives or has lived in India: an aboriginal of America.—ns. In′diaman, a large ship employed in trade, with India; In′dia-rub′ber, an elastic gummy substance, the inspissated juice of various tropical plants, extensively used in the arts: caoutchouc.—adj. In′dic, originating or existing in India, a term comprehensively applied to all the Aryan languages of India.—Indian berry, a climbing Indian shrub, its fruit Cocculus Indicus; Indian club, a bottle-shaped block of wood, swung in various motions by the arms with the view of developing the muscles of these and of the chest, &c.; Indian corn, maize, so called because brought from the West Indies; Indian cress, an ornamental garden shrub from Peru, with orange flowers; Indian file (see File); Indian fire, a pyrotechnic composition, used as a signal-light, consisting of sulphur, realgar, and nitre; Indian red (see Red); Indian summer, in America, a period of warm, dry, calm weather in late autumn, with hazy atmosphere.—India Docks, extensive docks in London for the accommodation of vessels engaged in the West and East India trade; India ink (see Ink); India Office, a government office in London, where are managed the affairs of the Indian government; India paper, a thin yellowish printing-paper made in China and Japan from vegetable fibre, and used in taking the finest proofs from engraved plates—hence called India proofs; India shawl, a Cashmere shawl.—East India Company, a great chartered company formed for trading with India and the East Indies, more especially applied to the English Company, incorporated in 1600 and abolished in 1858; East Indian, an inhabitant or a native of the East Indies; Red Indian, one of the aborigines of America, so called from the colour of the skin—(coll.) in U.S. Injen, Injun; West Indian, a native or an inhabitant of the West Indies. [L. India—Indus (Gr. Indos), the Indus (Pers. Hind. Hind; Zend Hindu)—Sans. sindhu, a river.]

Wikipedia

The word Indian means from or about the country of the modern Republic of India or Bharat. It refers to a person from India. Many different languages are used in India, so there is no one language called "Indian". Some languages of India are Gujarati, Hindi, Urdu, Sanskrit, Bengali, Kannada, Tamil, and Telugu.

The word Indian is also sometimes used for the people who were in North America, Central America, South America, and the islands of the Caribbean Sea when the Europeans first came there. The Europeans made a mistake and thought they were going to India, so they called the people "Indians".

Other names for these people are American Indians, First Nations, and Native Americans.