Indian

Meanings

Adjective

• Of or relating to India or its people; or (formerly) of the East Indies.
• Eastern; Oriental.
• Of or relating to the indigenous peoples of the Americas.
• Made with Indian corn or maize.
• Designating any of various chess opening now characterised by black's attempt to control the board through knights and fianchettoed bishops rather than with a central pawn advance.

Noun

• A person from India.
• A Native American, a member of one of the indigenous peoples of the Americas (generally excluding the Aleut, Inuit, Metis, or Yupik).
• An indigenous inhabitant of Australia, New Zealand or the Pacific islands.
• Indian cuisine; traditional Indian food.
• A meal at (or taken away from) an Indian restaurant.
• An Indian restaurant.

Proper Noun

• Any of the (unrelated) languages spoken by American Indians.
• Any language spoken by natives of India, especially Hindi.

Related

Similar words

• Indish
• Asian Indian
• American Indian, Amerindian, Amerind, Native American, Red Indian, First Nations person

Origin

• 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 western end of Asia / the Indies (hence also the designation of Caribbean islands as the West Indies).