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Native vs Former - What's the difference?

native | former |

As adjectives the difference between native and former

is that native is belonging to one by birth while former is previous.

As nouns the difference between native and former

is that native is a person who is native to a place; a person who was born in a place while former is someone who forms something; a maker; a creator or founder.

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

    * ----

    former

    English

    Alternative forms

    * (l)

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl) former, comparative of . Parallel to (m) (via Latin), as comparative form from same Proto-Indo-European root. Related to (m) and (m) (thence (m)), from Proto-Germanic.

    Adjective

    (-)
  • Previous.
  • :
  • *
  • *:At half-past nine on this Saturday evening, the parlour of the Salutation Inn, High Holborn, contained most of its customary visitors.In former days every tavern of repute kept such a room for its own select circle, a club, or society, of habitués, who met every evening, for a pipe and a cheerful glass.
  • (senseid) First of aforementioned two items. Used with the , often without a noun.
  • :
    • Synonyms
    * (previous) anterior, erstwhile, previous, prior, quondam, ex- * See also
    Antonyms
    * latter

    Etymology 2

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • Someone who forms something; a maker; a creator or founder.
    • Dave was the former of the company.
  • An object used to form something, such as a template, gauge, or cutting die.
    • ''The brick arch was built using a wooden former .
  • (chiefly, British, used in combinations) Someone in, or of, a certain form (class).
    • ''Fifth-former
    Sixth-former .
    Derived terms
    * pan former

    Statistics

    *

    Anagrams

    * reform ----