non-native

adjective

non-na·​tive ˌnän-ˈnā-tiv 

variants or nonnative

: not native: such as

a

of a plant or animal : living or growing in a place that is not the location of its natural occurrence

a non-native fish species

… overgrazing causes grasslands to give way to sagebrush, mesquite and non-native exotic grasses, environmentalists contend.

—Doug McInnis

b

: not born or raised in the place where a particular language is spoken

non-native inhabitants

a nonnative speaker of English [=a person who speaks English but whose native language is not English]

non-native noun

or nonnative

plural non-natives or nonnatives

popular among both natives and non-natives

Synonyms

• alien
• foreign

Examples of non-native in a Sentence

nonnative customs that made the recent immigrants stand out in their new country

Recent Examples on the Web

The workshop will include a live demonstration of various arrangements of native, non-native, and invasive plant species. —Joe Rassel, Orlando Sentinel, 11 July 2024

Klimek: Many places, non-native animal populations have been controlled by introducing predator species. —Chris Klimek, Smithsonian Magazine, 11 July 2024

Since humans arrived, some three-quarters of that country’s forest has been converted for their use, a sizable chunk of all endemic birds have gone extinct, and non-native species have multiplied. —Leigh Phillips, The Atlantic, 9 July 2024

With the exception of working animals, most non-native mammals are no longer allowed on Tuga, in order to protect the island’s fragile ecosystems. —Heller McAlpin, The Christian Science Monitor, 1 July 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1845, in the meaning defined above