It is said of the Native American, the native inhabitant, and everything related to him. It has an etymology that comes from Amerindian English, although for the Americans who call their country America they would be the natives of their territory. While it is evident that the word is composed of American Indian the origin is a bit convoluted, and begins with Christopher Columbus' insistence that the continent discovered by his expedition was actually part of the East Indies, which motivated the Spanish to call its inhabitants "Indians"; and the name remained generating confusion with those born in the real India, which led to the creation of variants like this to differentiate them. See Hindu, Hindu.
