English
Indian
Indian comes from Anglo-Norman indien.
- Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400indien
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500Indien
- Englishearliest quotation 1596Indian
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400indien
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500Indien
- Englishearliest quotation 1596Indian
Earliest quotation: 1596, Edmund Spenser, Book V, Canto X: “The morrow next apprear'd with purple hayre / Yet…”
Formed from Ind + -ian
Proto-Indo-Iranian *síndʰuš ‘river’
…
Ancient Greek Ἰνδός ‘the Indus river’
Ancient Greek Ἰνδία
Latin India
Middle French Inde
English Ind
The story
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).
Every English word from Anglo-Norman indien
Today it means
adj Of or relating to India or its people; or (formerly) of the East Indies.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Anglo-Norman indien / Indian