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.
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 Avicennæ). 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 (Zoöl.), 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 (Ipomœa 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
Arisæma. 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.
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