indigenous

\ɪnˈdɪdʒ.ɪ.nəs\

/\ɪnˈdɪdʒ.ɪ.nəs\/ adj

The verdict

“indigenous” is uncommon French (frequency #99,222 among 142,603 “I” headwords), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#99,222
frequency rank, French
142,603
“I” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Indigène, aborigène, autochtone.

Key facts for indigenous
PropertyValue
Headwordindigenous
LanguageFrench
Part of speechAdjective
IPA\ɪnˈdɪdʒ.ɪ.nəs\
Letters10
Frequency rank#99,222
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “indigenous” sits in French frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). indigenous lands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

indigenous is uncommon French at frequency #99,222 among 142,603 “I” headwords, classed as anadjective, transcribed \ɪnˈdɪdʒ.ɪ.nəs\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for indigenous, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, so any spelling logic here comes from how the word's sounds map to letters, not a documented origin story. The correct French form is indigenous, spelled I-N-D-I-G-E-N-O-U-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    Indigène, aborigène, autochtone.
  2. 2
    Inné, naturel (à partir du 19ᵉ siècle).

Synonyms

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 French corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "indigenous"?
"indigenous" is spelled I-N-D-I-G-E-N-O-U-S. The IPA pronunciation is \ɪnˈdɪdʒ.ɪ.nəs\.
What does "indigenous" mean?
As an adjective, "indigenous" means: Indigène, aborigène, autochtone.
How do you pronounce "indigenous"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "indigenous" is \ɪnˈdɪdʒ.ɪ.nəs\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "indigenous" come from?
"indigenous" is a French word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Using “indigenous”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct French spelling is I-N-D-I-G-E-N-O-U-S - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as \ɪnˈdɪdʒ.ɪ.nəs\ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Browse more French words and confusable pairs in the same reference. French words

Other uncommon French words near this rank

Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list