Word of the Day

Monday, December 10, 2001

autochthonous

\aw-TOK-thuh-nuhs\ , adjective;

Aboriginal; indigenous; native.

Formed or originating in the place where found.

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Quotes:

For cultures are not monoliths. They are fragmentary, patchworks of autochthonous and foreign elements.

-- Anthony Pagden, "Culture Wars", The New Republic, November 16, 1998

I thought of the present-day Arcadians, autochthonous, sprung from the very earth on which they live, who with every draught from a stream drink up millennia of history and legend.

-- Zachary Taylor, "Hot Land, Cold Water", The Atlantic, June 17, 1998

Origin:

Autochthonous derives from Greek autochthon, "of or from the earth or land itself," from auto-, "self" + chthon, "earth." One that is autochthonous is an autochthon.