au·toch·tho·nous

(ô-tŏk′thə-nəs) also au·toch·tho·nal (-thə-nəl) or au·toch·thon·ic (ô′tŏk-thŏn′ĭk)

adj.

1. Originating or formed in the place where found; indigenous: autochthonous rocks; an autochthonous people; autochthonous folk tales. See Synonyms at native.

2. Ecology Native to or produced within a system: an autochthonous species; algae that provide an autochthonous source of nutrients in a lake.

au·toch′thon·ism, au·toch′tho·ny n.

au·toch′tho·nous·ly adv.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Adj.

autochthonal - originating where it is found; "the autochthonal fauna of Australia includes the kangaroo"; "autochthonous rocks and people and folktales"; "endemic folkways"; "the Ainu are indigenous to the northernmost islands of Japan"

autochthonic, indigenous, autochthonous, endemic

native - characteristic of or existing by virtue of geographic origin; "the native North American sugar maple"; "many native artists studied abroad"

autochthonal

adjective

Existing, born, or produced in a land or region:

aboriginal, autochthonic, autochthonous, endemic, indigenous, native.

Mentioned in

References in periodicals archive

Women became the only inspiration to maintain ethnic identities, "demarcating the distinction between the alien and the autochthonal through what their wombs brought forth." (31) This discourse imposed "a unique cultural responsibility on the Hindu woman, recognizing her as the repository of past freedom and the future nationhood." (32) Righteous Hindu women started to symbolize the nation and the community from the colonial period.

'Love-Jihad' and Bollywood: Constructing Muslims as 'Other'

Reinheimer et al., "Yeasts from autochthonal cheese starters: technological and functional properties," Journal of Applied Microbiology, vol.

Hygiene Quality and Consumer Safety of Traditional Short- and Long-Ripened Cheeses from Poland