indian
/ˈɪn.di.ən/
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: 4.91 in modern English
7
Scrabble Score
6
Letters
3
Syllables
4
Unique Chars
Meaning
adj
Of or relating to India or its people; or (formerly) of the East Indies.
adj
Of or relating to the indigenous peoples of the Americas.
adj
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.
Example Sentences
- "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.”"
- "The morrow next apprear'd with purple hayre / Yet dropping fresh out of the Indian fount, / And bringing light into the heavens fayre […]."
- "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."
- "Indian bread"
- "Indian meal"
- "[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."
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).
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: Indien
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈɪn.di.ən/
- British English: /ˈɪn.dɪ.ən/
Usage
- Obsolete
- Canadian usage
- American usage
- Countable
- Uncountable
- British usage
- Colloquial
Inflected Forms
Derived Forms
Phrases
Frequently Paired Words
Synonyms
East Indian
Indic
Hindian
Desi
Indish
Native American
Amerindian
First Nation
Asian Indian
Red Indian
First Nations person
American Indian