East Indian
1
4.6
- adjective
- /iːst ˈɪndiən/
:
indio oriental
- Two of my close friends are Asian; one is an East Indian male and the other is Japanese.
Examples
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He once stood in front of a Mondrian, tucked his cane under his arm, and made surprising staccato motions like an East Indian dancer.
Fiction book (1990) -
This is an East Indian recipe.
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A huge blowup of Oriana in one of her East Indian dances made a stage of one wall.
Fiction book (1990) -
My friends included Chinese, East Indian, Jewish, French, Catholics, Haitian, etc.
Blog text (23) -
The population now is a little more than one million, mainly of African and East Indian origins, resulting in two distinct subcultures despite some acculturation.
Academic text (1997) -
Ethnicity can also refer to groups with a common national or religious background, within or outside the U.S., such as Chinese, East Indian, Cuban, or Jewish.
Academic text (2002) -
Table 2 shows the numbers of subjects of African and East Indian background in the normal samples with valid test results, together with the numbers of each gender from the two deviant populations.
Academic text (1997) -
The festival featured vibrant dances and traditional music that celebrated East Indian culture.
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She loves wearing East Indian sarees that showcase intricate patterns and bright colors.
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The restaurant offers a variety of East Indian dishes, including flavorful curries and fragrant rice.
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'a native or inhabitant of the East Indies/Indian subcontinent' is directly compositional from 'East' (a geographic/directional modifier) + 'Indian' (pertaining to India). This geographic modifier + nationality pattern is cross-linguistically common and follows normal noun phrase composition, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents would readily infer the meaning.
Etymology
East Indian comes from the name 'East Indies', the lands in Asia east of Europe that were long known for spices and trade. So the adjective now means 'of or relating to the East Indies'.