1. [n]  any of the languages spoken by Amerindians
2. [n]  a member of the race of people living in North America when Europeans arrived
3. [n]  a native or inhabitant of India
4. [adj]  of or pertaining to American Indians or their culture or languages; "Native American religions"; "Indian arrowheads"
5. [adj]  of or relating to or characteristic of India or the East Indies or their peoples or languages or cultures; "the Indian subcontinent"; "Indian saris"

Indian
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1. \In"di*an\ (?; 277), a. [From India, and this fr. Indus,
   the name of a river in Asia, L. Indus, Gr. ?, OPers. Hindu,
   name of the land on the Indus, Skr. sindhu river, the Indus.
   Cf. {Hindoo}.]
   1. Of or pertaining to India proper; also to the East Indies,
      or, sometimes, to the West Indies.
   2. Of or pertaining to the aborigines, or Indians, of
      America; as, Indian wars; the Indian tomahawk.
   3. Made of maize or Indian corn; as, Indian corn, Indian
      meal, Indian bread, and the like. [U.S.]
   {Indian} bay (Bot.), a lauraceous tree ({Persea Indica}).
   {Indian bean} (Bot.), a name of the catalpa.
   {Indian berry}. (Bot.) Same as {Cocculus indicus}.
   {Indian bread}. (Bot.) Same as {Cassava}.
   {Indian club}, a wooden club, which is swung by the hand for
      gymnastic exercise.
   {Indian cordage}, cordage made of the fibers of cocoanut
      husk.
   {Indian corn} (Bot.), a plant of the genus {Zea} ({Z. Mays});
      the maize, a native of America. See {Corn}, and {Maize}.
   {Indian cress} (Bot.), nasturtium. See {Nasturtium}, 2.
   {Indian cucumber} (Bot.), a plant of the genus {Medeola} ({M.
      Virginica}), a common in woods in the United States. The
      white rootstock has a taste like cucumbers.
   {Indian currant} (Bot.), a plant of the genus
      {Symphoricarpus} ({S. vulgaris}), bearing small red
      berries.
   {Indian dye}, the puccoon.
   {Indian fig}. (Bot.)
      (a) The banyan. See {Banyan}.
      (b) The prickly pear.
   {Indian file}, single file; arrangement of persons in a row
      following one after another, the usual way among Indians
      of traversing woods, especially when on the war path.
   {Indian fire}, a pyrotechnic composition of sulphur, niter,
      and realgar, burning with a brilliant white light.
   {Indian grass} (Bot.), a coarse, high grass ({Chrysopogon
      nutans}), common in the southern portions of the United
      States; wood grass. --Gray.
   {Indian hemp}. (Bot.)
      (a) A plant of the genus {Apocynum} ({A. cannabinum}),
          having a milky juice, and a tough, fibrous bark,
          whence the name. The root it used in medicine and is
          both emetic and cathartic in properties.
      (b) The variety of common hemp ({Cannabis Indica}), from
          which hasheesh is obtained.
   {Indian mallow} (Bot.), the velvet leaf ({Abutilon
      Avicenn[ae]}). See {Abutilon}.
   {Indian meal}, ground corn or maize. [U.S.]
   {Indian millet} (Bot.), a tall annual grass ({Sorghum
      vulgare}), having many varieties, among which are broom
      corn, Guinea corn, durra, and the Chinese sugar cane. It
      is called also {Guinea corn}. See {Durra}.
   {Indian ox} (Zo["o]l.), the zebu.
   {Indian paint}. See {Bloodroot}.
   {Indian paper}. See {India paper}, under {India}.
   {Indian physic} (Bot.), a plant of two species of the genus
      {Gillenia} ({G. trifoliata}, and {G. stipulacea}), common
      in the United States, the roots of which are used in
      medicine as a mild emetic; -- called also {American
      ipecac}, and {bowman's root}. --Gray.
   {Indian pink}. (Bot.)
      (a) The Cypress vine ({Ipom[oe]a Quamoclit}); -- so called
          in the West Indies.
      (b) See {China pink}, under {China}.
   {Indian pipe} (Bot.), a low, fleshy herb ({Monotropa
      uniflora}), growing in clusters in dark woods, and having
      scalelike leaves, and a solitary nodding flower. The whole
      plant is waxy white, but turns black in drying.
   {Indian plantain} (Bot.), a name given to several species of
      the genus {Cacalia}, tall herbs with composite white
      flowers, common through the United States in rich woods.
      --Gray.
   {Indian poke} (Bot.), a plant usually known as the {white
      hellebore} ({Veratrum viride}).
   {Indian pudding}, a pudding of which the chief ingredients
      are Indian meal, milk, and molasses.
   {Indian purple}.
      (a) A dull purple color.
      (b) The pigment of the same name, intensely blue and
          black.
   {Indian red}.
      (a) A purplish red earth or pigment composed of a silicate
          of iron and alumina, with magnesia. It comes from the
          Persian Gulf. Called also {Persian red}.
      (b) See {Almagra}.
   {Indian rice} (Bot.), a reedlike water grass. See {Rice}.
   {Indian shot} (Bot.), a plant of the genus {Canna} ({C.
      Indica}). The hard black seeds are as large as swan shot.
      See {Canna}.
   {Indian summer}, in the United States, a period of warm and
      pleasant weather occurring late in autumn. See under
      {Summer}.
   {Indian tobacco} (Bot.), a species of {Lobelia}. See
      {Lobelia}.
   {Indian turnip} (Bot.), an American plant of the genus
      {Aris[ae]ma}. {A. triphyllum} has a wrinkled farinaceous
      root resembling a small turnip, but with a very acrid
      juice. See {Jack in the Pulpit}, and {Wake-robin}.
   {Indian wheat}, maize or Indian corn.
   {Indian yellow}.
      (a) An intense rich yellow color, deeper than gamboge but
          less pure than cadmium.
      (b) See {Euxanthin}.
   

2. \In"di*an\ (?; 277), n.
   1. A native or inhabitant of India.
   2. One of the aboriginal inhabitants of America; -- so called
      originally from the supposed identity of America with
      India.