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Glite Dictionary
🧑🏽 A native person 🪶 Native American
indio

indio

1 9.9
A Spanish name for a native person from the Americas used in colonial times
  • noun
  • /ˈɪn.di.oʊ/
  • Archaic
translation icon : indio
  • To his credit, he comes to recognize the truth of the message Juan Diego announces and the indio's dignity as a child of God called by Guadalupe.
  • many indios
  • called indios
  • more indios

But what he had was a huge fucking ego and a huge fucking necessity to be recognized other than a little Indio from the mountains, right?

Examples

  • Behind the Spaniards sat the mission indios in their sandal-covered feet and white cotton clothes.

    Fiction book (1995)

  • The indios of the region did not care for the silver from the mine, but they wanted the livestock.

    Fiction book (1995)

  • All the indios know your medicine is powerful and your heart is kind.

    Fiction book (1995)

  • Lately, there had been so many indios that the chapel filled up quickly and some had to stand outside for the mass.

    Fiction book (1995)

  • Long shadows streaked across the plaza as Ipa joined the indios walking to the chapel, weary from a long day's work.

    Fiction book (1995)

  • While Fray Ignatio tended the Spaniards, Fray Bernardo walked among the indios.

    Fiction book (1995)

  • At the outset of the account, Juan Diego stands meekly before the bishop; in the end, the stooped indio stands erect while the bishop and his household kneel before him and venerate the image on his tilma.

    Academic text (2009)

  • The indio proudly wore traditional clothing during the festival celebrating their heritage.

  • In colonial times, an indio often faced discrimination from the European settlers in their community.

  • The elder indios shared stories of their ancestors with the younger generations at the gathering.

Synonyms

Native American
vsindio
161 3.4

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

is the older Spanish colonial term rather than a modern neutral name
native
vsindio
84 3.7

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

is the Spanish colonial term used specifically for people in the Americas
aborigine
vsindio
4 8.6

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

is the Spanish-origin historical word for people of the Americas during colonization
aboriginal
vsindio
2 7.6

A member of the first people who lived in a region

is used specifically for the Americas and in a colonial historical sense
South American Indian
vsindio
  • Archaic
1 5.1

A person from the native peoples of South America before European arrival

is a Spanish-era term used across the Americas, not just South America
Amerindian
vsindio
1 7.3

A person whose family comes from the native peoples of North or South America

is an older Spanish term used mainly during the colonial era
indigene
vsindio
1 9.4

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

refers specifically to people of the Americas in a colonial historical context
Amerind
vsindio
  • Archaic
8.9

A person from the native peoples of the Americas or a language they speak

refers only to people, not to the languages they speak

Surface Forms

indio singular
indios plural

Etymology

Indio was used in Spanish for a native person because early explorers thought they had reached India and called the local people 'indios'. That's why in colonial times official documents used indio to mean a native person of the Americas.