English
native
Native comes from Middle English natif, from Old French natif, from Latin nātīvus ‘innate’, from nātus ‘born’, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ǵenh₁- ‘to beget’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵenh₁-‘to produce, beget’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*gnāskōr‘to be born’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEnāscor‘to be born’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEnātus‘born’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEnātīvus‘innate, inborn’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400natif
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500natif
- Englishearliest quotation 1509native
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵenh₁-‘to produce, beget’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*gnāskōr‘to be born’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEnāscor‘to be born’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEnātus‘born’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEnātīvus‘innate, inborn’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400natif
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500natif
- Englishearliest quotation 1509native
Earliest quotation: 1509, Stephen Hawes, Of the five internall wittes.: “In my natyf language I wyl not opres, /…”
Equivalent to nātus + -ive
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *ǵenh₁- ‘to give birth’
general, kind, king, german, engine, gender, generation, genuine, gene, genius, oxygen, ken, genre, gentle, indigenous, nation, hydrogen, genocide, genus, kin, genital, ingenious, germ, gens, gentile, puny, glycogen, genial, genteel, gingerly, jaunty, janata, azadi, nomen, cognate, estrogenic, genitive, 106 more
through Latin nāscor ‘to be born’
nature, pregnant, innate, nascent, renate, 10 more
through Latin nātus ‘birth’
natural, noel, nee, natal, nada, 8 more
through Latin īvus
positive, festival, festive, festivity, naïveté, 10 more
through Latin nātīvus ‘natural, native, made by nature and not…’
Today it means
adj Belonging to one by birth or ancestry.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *ǵenh₁- / native