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Amerindian

Amerindian

1 7.3
A person whose family comes from the native peoples of North or South America
  • noun
  • /ˌæməˈrɪndɪən/
translation icon : amerindio
  • Moreover, Amerindians in particular were explicitly described by such thinkers as the pure, natural humans of the state of nature.
  • Amerindians and Europeans
  • encounters with Amerindians
  • native Amerindian

Examples

  • One of Captain Pike's assignments was to escort the Amerindians back to their villages.

    Academic text (2002)
  • Witness what happened to the 'othered' Amerindians and you get the picture.

    Blog text (12)
  • I doubt that Amerindians remember the past as a libertarian paradise either.

    Blog text (15)
  • Foremost among these is the traditional study of Native American Indians, or Amerindians, depopulation and cultural destruction.

    Academic text (1992)
  • Landscape modification also occurred in more sparsely occupied areas, particularly through the Amerindians' use of fire.

    Academic text (1992)
  • Probably about 54 million Amerindians lived in the Western Hemisphere in 1492 (see Table 1 on page 20).

    Academic text (1992)
  • Some early modern thinkers, for instance, held that Amerindians were civil beings who led ordered and rationally comprehensible ways of life.

    Academic text (1999)
  • On July 15, 1806, Captain Zebulon Pike led a party of 23 soldiers and 51 Amerindians westward out of St. Louis, Missouri.

    Academic text (2002)
  • Amerindians used irrigation to expand or intensify cultivation on lands otherwise constrained by insufficient water supplies.

    Academic text (1992)
  • In a stunning landscape, the Amerindians continue to practice their ancient traditions and maintain a deep connection to the land.

Synonyms

Native American
vsAmerindian
161 3.4

A person whose family lived in North or South America before Europeans arrived

is the same meaning but uses a different single-word form
native
vsAmerindian
84 3.7

A person from the original people of a place, not later settlers

is limited to peoples of the Americas before European arrival rather than any origin
aborigine
vsAmerindian
4 8.6

A person from the first people living in a place before others arrived

is focused on peoples in the Americas before European arrival rather than anywhere
aboriginal
vsAmerindian
2 7.6

A member of the first people who lived in a region

is limited to those in the Americas rather than any region
indio
vsAmerindian
  • Archaic
1 9.9

A Spanish name for a native person from the Americas used in colonial times

is used for peoples who lived before European arrival, not only colonial usage
indigene
vsAmerindian
1 9.4

A person native to a place where their family lived for many generations

is specific to peoples of the Americas rather than any local region

Compounds

A language spoken by the native peoples of the Americas

Surface Forms

Amerindian singular
Amerindians plural

Morphology

Amerindian = Indian (semi-transparent) = Amer + indian

Formed by adding the combining form 'Amer-' (from America) to 'Indian'; the geographic sense is inferable but 'Indian' is ambiguous and the combining form is not a standalone morpheme for learners.

Etymology

Amerindian combines Amer- (from American) and -indian (from Indian). Europeans once called the native peoples they met 'Indians' by mistake, so joining these parts gives a word for the original or native peoples of North and South America, which is why Amerindian means a member of the indigenous peoples of the Americas.