Autochthonous

Part of speech: adjective

Pronunciation: /ɔːˈtɒkθənəs/

Definitions

1. Existing or originating naturally in the place where it is found without being brought from elsewhere
2. Describing a species, population, or person that has developed or lived in their native region rather than having been introduced
3. Pertaining to something indigenous, formed, or produced originally in the locality where it exists

Etymology: Ancient Greeks told a story about their own origins that gave this word its meaning. "Autochthon" combined "autos," meaning "self," with "chthon," meaning "earth" or "soil," so the literal sense was "sprung from the very land itself." Greek myth imagined certain founding peoples, especially in Athens, as having emerged from the ground rather than arriving from elsewhere, and the term described that claim to native status. The adjective "autochthonous" is simply that noun with the suffix "-ous," meaning "full of" or "having the quality of," which English has attached to countless Latin and Greek stems. The result describes anything that is native to a place rather than introduced to it, whether a people, a plant, or an animal. The word appears in English as a learned formation drawn directly from Greek, so its sense of rootedness in the soil has stayed closer to the original image than many words that have wandered far from their beginnings.

Synonyms: indigenous, native, local