Basic+ Word of the Day: native

native (adjective, noun)

Rhinos are native animals of Africa and Asia.

If something is native, it means that it comes from a place or country.

• That is not a native British tree.

A native is someone who was born in a place or country.

• He’s a native of Boston.

If a language is native, it means that it is the first language (or one of the first languages) that someone learned.

• French is my native language.

Common uses

If someone has spoken a language all their life, we can say that they are a native speaker. For example, “I learned Italian when I was 10, so I’m not a native speaker.”

In pop culture

Renata Flores Rivera is a singer from Peru. She sings in her native language: Quechua. This is her version of “Fallin'” by Alicia Keys.

There are other meanings of native.