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Elemental vs Native - What's the difference?

elemental | native |

As adjectives the difference between elemental and native

is that elemental is (chemistry) of, relating to, or being an element (as opposed to a compound) while native is belonging to the native inhabitants of the americas or australia; in particular:.

As nouns the difference between elemental and native

is that elemental is (fantasy) a creature (usually a spirit) that is attuned with, or composed of, one of the classical elements: air, earth, fire and water they sometimes have unique proper names and sometimes are referred to as air, earth, fire, or water while native is an aboriginal inhabitant of the americas or australia; in particular:.

elemental

English

Adjective

(-)
  • (chemistry) of, relating to, or being an element (as opposed to a compound)
  • basic, fundamental or elementary
  • of the ancient supposed elements of earth, air, fire and water
  • (by extension) of, or relating to a force or nature, especially to severe atmospheric conditions

    • Noun

    (elementals) (en noun)
  • (fantasy) A creature (usually a spirit) that is attuned with, or composed of, one of the classical elements: air, earth, fire and water. They sometimes have unique proper names and sometimes are referred to as Air, Earth, Fire, or Water.

    • native

    English

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • Belonging to one by birth.
    • This is my native land.
    English is not my native language.
    I need a volunteer native New Yorker for my next joke…
  • Characteristic of or relating to people inhabiting a region from prehistoric times.
    • What are now called ‘Native Americans’ used to be called Indians.
    The native peoples of Australia are called aborigines.
  • .
  • Born or grown in the region in which it lives or is found; not foreign or imported.
    • a native inhabitant
    native oysters or strawberries
    Many native artists studied abroad.
  • (biology, of a species) Which occurs of its own accord in a given locality, to be contrasted with a species introduced by man.
    • The naturalized Norway maple often outcompetes the native North American sugar maple.
  • (computing, of software) Pertaining to the system or architecture in question.
    • This is a native back-end to gather the latest news feeds.
    The native integer size is sixteen bits.
  • (mineralogy) Occurring naturally in its pure or uncombined form; native aluminium, native salt.
  • Arising by birth; having an origin; born.
  • * (rfdate) (Cudworth)
    • Anaximander's opinion is, that the gods are native , rising and vanishing again in long periods of times.
  • Original; constituting the original substance of anything.
    • native dust
    (Milton)
  • Naturally related; cognate; connected (with).
  • * (rfdate) (Shakespeare)
    • The head is not more native to the heart, / Than is the throne of Denmark to thy father.

    Antonyms

    * foreign, fremd

    Derived terms

    * go native * native soil * native speaker * native wit

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A person who is native to a place; a person who was born in a place.
  • (lb) A person of aboriginal stock, as distinguished from a person who was or whose ancestors were foreigners or settlers/colonizers. (aboriginal inhabitant of the Americas or Australia).
    • Some natives must have stolen our cattle.

    Usage notes

    * In North America, (m)/(m) came into use as an umbrella term for the indigenous inhabitants of America as (m) began to fall out of formal usage (because it originated from Columbus's mistaken belief that he was in India and the people he encountered were Indians). Other designations include (m), (Native Canadian), and (m). In Canada, the terms include (Inuit) and (Metis) and the adjectives (m)/(m).

    Synonyms

    * (l)

    See also

    * native cat * nativity * nativization

    Statistics

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