Dictionary

autochthonous en · ADJ

Pronunciation

• /ɔˈtɑkθənəs/ (US)
• /ɔːˈtɒkθənəs/ (UK)
• /ɑˈtɑkθənəs/ (cot-caught-merger)
• (US) audio cot-caught

Etymology

Literally, “native to the soil”; from autochthon + -ous.

Meanings

1. (not-comparable) Native to the place where found; indigenous.
   • It analyzes exceptionalism in terms of institutional authority, adjudicative method, and substantive doctrine, and it shows how exceptionalism derives from the idea of autochthonous Native sovereignty. 2024 September 30, Michael Doran, “EXCEPTIONALISM AND ASSIMILATIONISM IN FEDERAL INDIAN LAW”, in Stanford Law School, volume 20, number 2, page 270, archived from the original on 24 Feb 2025:
   • "Forms or images of a collective nature which occur practically all over the earth as constituents of myths and at the same time as autochthonous, individual products of unconscious origin" (C. G. Jung, Psychology and Religion [Collected Works, vol. 11; New York and London, 1958], par. 88.) 1968, Joseph Campbell, The Hero with a Thousand Faces, 2nd edition, London: Fontana Press, published 1993, page 16:
   • Only human beings could live on this world and know that they were not autochthonous but had stemmed from Earthmen—and yet did the Spacers really know it or did they simply put it out of their mind? 1983, Isaac Asimov, chapter 22, in The Robots of Dawn, Bantam Books, →ISBN, page 116:
   • Two of the most celebrated of the evolutionists reject the autochthonous view, for Darwin's Descent of Man and Haeckel's Hist. of Creation consider the American man an emigrant from the old world, whatever way the race may have developed 1889, Justin Winsor, Narrative and Critical History of America, volume I, page 375:
2. (not-comparable) Originating where found; found where it originates.
   • When, in 1858, Joseph Lister amputated the right leg of a six-year-old girl suffering from gangrene, he noted that the autochthonous blood clot extended down the anterior tibial artery as far as the commencement of the gangrene. 1983, Journal of the Medical Society of New Jersey, volume 80, page 538:
3. (not-comparable) Buried in place, especially of a fossil preserved in its life position without disturbance or disarticulation.
   • Death and burial may be simultaneous, resulting in a preserved snapshot of an autochthonous assemblage that may be compared directly with present day ecosystems. 1992, Anna K. Behrensmeyer et al., Terrestrial Ecosystems Through Time, page 83:

Antonyms

heterochthonous (antonym(s) of “native to the place where found, buried in place”) · allochthonous (antonym(s) of “native to the place where found, buried in place”)

Deriveds

autochthonousness · semiautochthonous · parautochthonous · autochthonous micrite · autochthonously · autochthonist

Relateds

autochthonal · autochthon · autochthony · autochthonism · autochthonic

Synonyms

autochthonic (native to the place where found) · native (native to the place where found) · aboriginal (native to the place where found) · indigenous (native to the place where found)

Translations (53)

ga uatheascarthach (biology, medicine: originating where found) · pl autochtoniczny (geology: formed or buried where found) · bg автохто́нен (native to the place where found) · fi autoktoninen (geology: formed or buried where found) · cmn 原位的 (biology, medicine: originating where found) · pl autochtoński (native to the place where found) · pl autochtoniczny (native to the place where found) · es autóctono (native to the place where found) · nl autochtoon (native to the place where found) · fi kotoperäinen (native to the place where found) · kk автохтондық (native to the place where found) · fi autoktoninen (native to the place where found) · cmn 土生的 (native to the place where found) · cmn 本土的 (native to the place where found) · pt autóctone (native to the place where found) · ga uatheascarthach (native to the place where found) · pl autochtoniczny (biology, medicine: originating where found) · sv infödd (native to the place where found) · cmn 原地埋藏的 (geology: formed or buried where found) · ca autòcton (native to the place where found) · sq autokton (native to the place where found) · uk автохто́нний (native to the place where found) · eo aŭtoĥtona (native to the place where found) · eo indiĝena (native to the place where found) · ru коренно́й (native to the place where found) · ru автохто́нный (biology, medicine: originating where found) · ru ме́стный (native to the place where found) · de autochthon (native to the place where found) · ga díleasach (geology: formed or buried where found) · sv ursprunglig (native to the place where found) · bg автохто́нен (geology: formed or buried where found) · sv autokton (native to the place where found) · ru автохто́нный (native to the place where found) · tr asil yerli (native to the place where found) · bg автохто́нен (biology, medicine: originating where found) · el αυτόχθονας (native to the place where found) · sq autoktone (native to the place where found) · sh autòhton (native to the place where found) · ro autohton (native to the place where found) · ka ავტოქტონური (native to the place where found) · eo aŭtoktona (native to the place where found) · ru автохто́нный (geology: formed or buried where found) · pt autóctone (biology, medicine: originating where found) · ru аутохто́нный (native to the place where found) · ka ავტოქტონური (geology: formed or buried where found) · ka ავტოქტონური (biology, medicine: originating where found) · it autoctono (native to the place where found) · pt autóctone (geology: formed or buried where found) · fr autochtone (native to the place where found) · cs autochtonní (native to the place where found) · gl autóctono (native to the place where found) · fi autoktoninen (biology, medicine: originating where found) · ka ადგილობრივი (native to the place where found)