Indian

Etymology

From Anglo-Norman indien, Middle French indien, corresponding to Ind +‎ -ian.

Pronunciation

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• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈɪndɪən/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈɪndi.ən/
• Hyphenation: In‧di‧an

Adjective

Indian (comparative more Indian, superlative most Indian)

1. Of or relating to India or its people; or (formerly) of the East Indies. [from 14th c.]

   Synonyms: Desi, Hindian, Indish

2. (obsolete) Eastern; Oriental.
   • 1596, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, volume 10:

     The morrow next apprear'd with purple hayre / Yet dropping fresh out of the Indian fount, / And bringing light into the heavens fayre […] .

3. Of or relating to the indigenous peoples of the Americas. [from 16th c.]
   • 1879, Friedrich August Flückiger & al., Pharmacographia..., p. 346:

     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.

   Synonyms: Aboriginal, Amerind, Amerindian, First Nations, native

4. (Canada, US, of foods) Made with Indian corn or maize. [from 17th c.]

   Indian bread; Indian meal

5. (chess) 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. [from 19th c.]

Noun

Indian (plural Indians)

1. A person from India. [from 13th c.]
2. A member of one of the indigenous peoples of the Americas (generally excluding the Aleut, Inuit, Metis, or Yupik). [from 16th c.]
   • 1819-1820, Washington Irving, The Sketchbook of Geoffrey Crayon:

     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.

3. (now rare, historical) An indigenous inhabitant of Australia, New Zealand or the Pacific islands. [from 18th c.]
4. (Britain, colloquial) A meal at (or taken away from) an Indian restaurant. [from 20th c.]

   We're going out tonight for an Indian.

5. (Britain, colloquial) An Indian restaurant.

   We're going down the Indian for a curry - wanna join us?

Proper noun

Indian

1. (nonstandard) Any of the (unrelated) languages spoken by American Indians.
2. (nonstandard, rare) Any language spoken by natives of India, especially Hindi.
   • 1968 Anne Rider, A hilltop in hazard, page 51:

     [They said] 'Mutton can speak Indian', 'Mutton can see Kanchinjunga out of his bedroom window'[.]

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /inˈdjan/

Adjective

Indian

1. Indian (of India)
2. Native American; Indian