Dictionary

nativism en · NOUN

Etymology

Etymology tree English native Proto-Indo-European *-id- Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-idyéti Proto-Hellenic *-íd͏̌d͏̌ō Ancient Greek -ῐ́ζω (-ĭ́zō) Proto-Indo-European *-mos Proto-Indo-European *-mós Ancient Greek -μός (-mós) Ancient Greek -ισμός (-ismós)der. English -ism English nativism From native + -ism.

Meanings

1. (US, countable, uncountable) A policy of favoring native-born inhabitants over immigrants.
   • If there is to be another iteration of a Trump presidency, or a successful campaign by one of his acolytes, the scientific denial may be dialed down somewhat while retaining the reflex nativism. 2021 November 21, Oliver Milman, “Climate denial is waning on the right. What’s replacing it might be just as scary”, in The Guardian, archived from the original on 09 Dec 2021:
   • To understand just how rare, look back into history to, say, the Johnson Act of 1924. Its national-origins quota system reverberated with nativism and racism. 1982 March 18, “Not Nativist, Not Racist, Not Mean”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, archived from the original on 08 Jun 2025:
   • They were targeted by a virulent strain of nativism toward those from Southern and Eastern Europe that was largely about race. 2025 December 15, Greg Sargent, Inside Stephen Miller’s Dark Plot to Build a MAGA Terror State, The New Republic:
2. (countable, uncountable) The policy of perpetuating the culture of the natives of a colonised country.
3. (countable) A cultural element that is native to a colonised country.
   • The Columbian Exchange was proof like no other of how, when it comes to food, so often the venue of our greatest nativisms, we, as human beings, easily slip the ties of belonging. 2021 November 11, Aatish Taseer, “Tracing Mexico’s Complicated Relationship With Rice”, in The New York Times Style Magazine, archived from the original on 13 Nov 2021:
4. (countable, uncountable) The doctrine that some skills or abilities are innate and not learned.
5. (countable, uncountable) A theory that some knowledge of grammar is innate.

Forms

Deriveds

antinativism

Relateds

nativist · antinativist · native-speakerism

Translations (9)

es nativismo (Translations) · nl nativisme (Translations) · ru нативи́зм (Translations) · el νατιβισμός (Translations) · fi nativismi (Translations) · pt nativismo (Translations) · de Nativismus (Translations) · it nativismo (Translations) · fr nativisme (Translations)