Indian

Etymology

From Anglo-Norman indien, Middle French indien, corresponding to Ind +‎ -ian. Applied to inhabitants of the Americas due to an early misconception that the Americas were the eastern end of Asia / the Indies^[1] (hence also the designation of Caribbean islands as the West Indies).

Pronunciation

• (India) IPA^(key): /ˈɪɳ.ɖɪə̯n/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈɪn.dɪ.ən/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈɪn.di.ən/

• Audio (General American):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪndiən
• 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: East Indian, Indic, Hindian, Desi, Indish (archaic)

2. (obsolete) Eastern; Oriental.
   • 1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book V, Canto X”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:

     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 et al., Pharmacographia..., page 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: Native American, Amerindian, First Nation

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 (countable and uncountable, plural Indians)

1. (countable) A person from India. [from 13th c.]

   Synonyms: Asian Indian, East Indian, Hindian, Desi

2. (countable) An American Indian, a member of one of the indigenous peoples of the Americas (generally excluding the Aleut, Inuit, Metis, or Yupik). [from 16th c.]

   Synonyms: Amerindian, Native American, Red Indian, First Nations person; see also Thesaurus:Native American

   • 1820 July, Geoffrey Crayon [pseudonym; Washington Irving], “Traits of Indian Character”, in The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent., New York, N.Y.: […] C[ornelius] S. Van Winkle, […], →OCLC:

     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.

   • 1909, O. Henry [pseudonym; William Sydney Porter], “He Also Serves”, in Options‎:

     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.

   • 1951, Louis L'Amour, Rustlers of West Fork:

     With savage desperation the Indian lunged his horse straight at Hopalong and, knife in hand, leaped for him!

3. (countable, obsolete) An indigenous inhabitant of Australia, New Zealand or the Pacific islands. [from 18th c.]
4. (uncountable) Ellipsis of Indian cuisine.

   Have you ever tried Indian?

5. (UK, countable, colloquial) Ellipsis of Indian meal (“meal consisting of Indian cuisine”). [from 20th c.]

   We're going out tonight for an Indian.

6. (UK, countable, colloquial) Ellipsis of Indian restaurant (“restaurant serving Indian cuisine”).

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

7. (countable) Ellipsis of Mardi Gras Indian.

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'[.]

References

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /inˈdjan/

Adjective

Indian

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