Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Originating or formed in the place where found; indigenous: synonym: native.
  • adjective Ecology Native to or produced within a system.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • In petrol., noting rocks which have originated in situ, such as peat, rock-salt, and stalagmitic limestone; also applied to constituent minerals of rocks which have crystallized in the place they now occupy. Autochthonous materials are contrasted with the mechanically derived particles of clastic rocks.
  • Pertaining to autochthons; indigenous; sprung from the soil; aboriginal.
  • In pathology, not extraneous; originating at the place where found.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Native to the place where found; indigenous.
  • adjective biology, medicine Originating where found.
  • adjective geology Buried in place, especially of a fossil preserved in its life position without disturbance or disarticulation.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective of rocks, deposits, etc.; found where they and their constituents were formed
  • adjective originating where it is found

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

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

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Examples

  • But it was 14-year-old David Tidmarsh of South Bend, Indiana who spelled the final word autochthonous to become this year's champion.

    CNN Transcript Jun 3, 2004 2004

  • There is a very distinct tendency for people of British birth (and now we are using British in another sense of the word) to think of British democracy as something which is their particular property, a kind of autochthonous English growth transported by the English and the Scots to less fortunate portions of the globe.

    This Democratic Empire 1940

  • What follows are his juicy thoughts on the dollar and wine prices, strikes, the summer from hell, Greek wines, the word of the day ( "autochthonous"), and why he's drinking rosé all year long.

    Dr Vino's wine blog 2008

  • b. - by consecuence 85 % are not and a huge porcentage are "autochthonous" and the others are a mix of indigenous and spanish descendants. so even if hollywood represent Mexicans like domestic servants, gardeners and delinquents is very important precise what part of this "society" belongs to.

    Page 2 2009

  • b. - by consecuence 85 % are not and a huge porcentage are "autochthonous" and the others are a mix of indigenous and spanish descendants. so even if hollywood represent Mexicans like domestic servants, gardeners and delinquents is very important precise what part of this "society" belongs to.

    Page 2 2009

  • b. - by consecuence 85 % are not and a huge porcentage are "autochthonous" and the others are a mix of indigenous and spanish descendants. so even if hollywood represent Mexicans like domestic servants, gardeners and delinquents is very important precise what part of this "society" belongs to.

    Page 2 2009

  • b. - by consecuence 85 % are not and a huge porcentage are "autochthonous" and the others are a mix of indigenous and spanish descendants. so even if hollywood represent Mexicans like domestic servants, gardeners and delinquents is very important precise what part of this "society" belongs to.

    Page 2 2009

  • b. - by consecuence 85 % are not and a huge porcentage are "autochthonous" and the others are a mix of indigenous and spanish descendants. so even if hollywood represent Mexicans like domestic servants, gardeners and delinquents is very important precise what part of this "society" belongs to.

    Page 2 2009

  • b. - by consecuence 85 % are not and a huge porcentage are "autochthonous" and the others are a mix of indigenous and spanish descendants. so even if hollywood represent Mexicans like domestic servants, gardeners and delinquents is very important precise what part of this "society" belongs to.

    Page 2 2009

  • b. - by consecuence 85 % are not and a huge porcentage are "autochthonous" and the others are a mix of indigenous and spanish descendants. so even if hollywood represent Mexicans like domestic servants, gardeners and delinquents is very important precise what part of this "society" belongs to.

    Page 2 2009

Comments

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  • Contrast with allochthonous, naturally.

    December 29, 2006

  • Pertaining to substances (organic matter from plankton), materials, or organisms originating within a particular waterway or lake and remaining in that waterway.

    March 6, 2008

  • Synonymous with "aboriginal" when referring to people.

    February 20, 2009