American Indian
Also found in: Thesaurus, Medical, Acronyms, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia.
American Indian
n.
A member of any of the peoples indigenous to the Americas except the Eskimo, Aleut, and Inuit.
American Indian adj.
Usage Note: In principle, American Indian can apply to all native peoples throughout the Americas except the Eskimo, Aleut, and Inuit, but in practice it is generally restricted to the peoples of the United States and Canada. For native peoples in the rest of the hemisphere, usage generally favors Indian by itself or, less frequently, the contractions Amerindian or Amerind. See Usage Notes at First Nation, Indian, Native American.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
American Indian
n
(Peoples) Also called: Native American a member of any of the indigenous peoples of North, Central, or South America, esp those of North America
adj
1. (Peoples) Also: Amerindian of or relating to any of these peoples, their languages, or their cultures
2. (Languages) Also: Amerindian of or relating to any of these peoples, their languages, or their cultures
Usage: The term American Indian is still acceptable and is widely used by American Indians themselves. The most accepted phrase in general use nowadays is Native American
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014
Amer′ican In′dian
n.
a member of any of the indigenous peoples of North and South America, usu. excluding the Aleuts and Eskimos.
[1725–35]
usage: See Indian.
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Switch to new thesaurus
| Noun | 1. |  American Indian - a member of the race of people living in America when Europeans arrivedAmerindian, Native American - any member of the peoples living in North or South America before the Europeans arrived Algonquian, Algonquin - a member of any of the North American Indian groups speaking an Algonquian language and originally living in the subarctic regions of eastern Canada; many Algonquian tribes migrated south into the woodlands from the Mississippi River to the Atlantic coast 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 Athabaskan, Athapascan, Athapaskan, Athabascan - a member of any of the North American Indian groups speaking an Athapaskan language and living in the subarctic regions of western Canada and central Alaska Amerindian race, Indian race - usually included in the Mongoloid race Maya, Mayan - a member of an American Indian people of Yucatan and Belize and Guatemala who had a culture (which reached its peak between AD 300 and 900) characterized by outstanding architecture and pottery and astronomy; "Mayans had a system of writing and an accurate calendar" Nahuatl - a member of any of various Indian peoples of central Mexico Olmec - a member of an early Mesoamerican civilization centered around Veracruz that flourished between 1300 and 400 BC Zapotec, Zapotecan - a member of a large tribe of Mesoamericans living in southern Mexico whose civilization flourished around 300 to 900 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 - a member of the Muskhogean people formerly living in northern Mississippi Coeur d'Alene - a member of an Amerindian people living in northern Idaho around Coeur d'Alene Lake Creek - any member of the Creek Confederacy (especially the Muskogee) formerly living in Georgia and Alabama but now chiefly in Oklahoma Haida - a member of a seafaring group of North American Indians who lived on the Pacific coast of British Columbia and southwestern Alaska 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 member of any of the peoples formerly living in southeastern United States and speaking Muskhogean languages Penutian - a member of a North American Indian people speaking one of the Penutian languages Pueblo - a member of any of about two dozen Native American peoples called `Pueblos' by the Spanish because they live in pueblos (villages built of adobe and rock) Salish - a member of a group of North American Indians speaking a Salishan language and living on the northwest coast of North America Shoshone, Shoshoni - a member of the North American Indian people (related to the Aztecs) of the southwestern United States Taracahitian - a member of a group of peoples of Mexico Tlingit - a member of a seafaring group of North American Indians living in southern Alaska Wakashan - a member of one of the peoples in British Columbia and Washington who speak the Wakashan language Eskimo, Esquimau, Inuit - a member of a people inhabiting the Arctic (northern Canada or Greenland or Alaska or eastern Siberia); the Algonquians called them Eskimo (`eaters of raw flesh') but they call themselves the Inuit (`the people') 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 squaw - an American Indian woman |
| 2. | American Indian - any of the languages spoken by Amerindians natural language, tongue - a human written or spoken language used by a community; opposed to e.g. a computer language Algonquian language, Algonquin, Algonquian - family of North American Indian languages spoken from Labrador to South Carolina and west to the Great Plains Atakapan, Attacapa, Attacapan, Atakapa - a language spoken by the Atakapa of the Gulf Coast of Louisiana and Texas Athabascan, Athapaskan language, 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, Quechua, Kechua - 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 Caribbean language, Carib - the family of languages spoken by the Carib Uto-Aztecan, Uto-Aztecan language - a family of American Indian languages 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 Penutian - a family of Amerindian language spoken in the great interior valley of California |
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.
Translations
American Indian
n → Indianer(in) m(f)
Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007