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West ˈIndian, n. and a.
Also 9 (vulgar) -injine; 20— (as one word) Westindian.
[f. West India.]
1. n.
†a. pl. The original inhabitants of the West Indies. Obs.
1584R. Scot Discov. Witchcr. iii. xv. 50 The West Indians doo the like. 1597J. King Jonas (1618) 177 Those [cruelties] that were practiced by the Spanish nation vpon the west Indians. 1618W. Lawson New Orch. & Gard. xii. (1623) 41 Also I read in the History of the West-Indians, out of Peter-Martyr, That [etc.]. 1658Phillips, Weroance, a name given to any great Lord, among the West-Indians.
b. An inhabitant or native of the West Indies, of European origin or descent.
1661E. Hickeringill Jamaica 100 The Major part of the Inhabitants being old West-Indians. 1757[Burke] Europ. Settlem. Amer. vi. x. II. 112 In the foregoing manner the West-Indian would state some part of what he conceives to be his grievances. 1764Foote Patron i. (1781) 11 This is one of Lofty's companions, a West-Indian of an over-grown fortune. 1771Cumberland (title) The West Indian. 1817Jane Austen Sanditon (1925) 78 And I have heard that's very much the case with your West-injines. 1873B. Harte Fiddletown, etc. 97 Yet here sat that young West Indian..Alexander Hamilton. 1876Geo. Eliot Dan. Der. i. iii, She had no notion how her maternal grandfather got the fortune inherited by his two daughters; but he had been a West Indian—which seemed to exclude further question.
c. A person of West Indian ancestry.
1928Times 25 June 5/1 The out-cricket of the West Indians on Saturday indicates that the compliment, which has been paid to them, has not been prematurely offered. 1957Times 18 Feb. 4/7 Statistics show that more than 26,000 West Indians migrated to Britain during 1956. 1961Ann. Reg. 1960 122 In his message to West Indians on Christmas Day the Prime Minister of the Federation, Sir Grantly Adams, spoke of West Indian unity. 1971Observer 21 Feb. 5/1 The Scots West Indian... Born in Edinburgh, he has Jamaican blood from his father's side. 1973Montserrat Mirror 23 Mar. 5/2 Trinidad is the home of calypso but this form of music belongs to all Westindians. 1981Westindian World 31 July 2/3 My findings demolished a myth about Westindians.
2. adj.
a. Of or pertaining to, situated in, connected with, the West Indies.
1611Cotgr., s.v. Araroye, A round..ornament of feathers, worne by the West-Indian Sauages at their backes. 1647N. Ward Simple Cobler 4 The Sub-planters of a West-Indian Island. 1667Earl of Orrery St. Lett. (1742) 239 The West-Indian fleet consists of an hundred and thirty five sail. 1681Grew Musæum i. §iv. iv. 80 A Great Nest of an other West-Indian Bird. a1700B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, Rum,..a West-Indian Drink stronger than Brandy. 1754H. Walpole Let. to Bentley 3 Nov., The West Indian war has thrown me into a new study. 1821T. Dwight Trav. II. 458 Horses they sell at New-Haven and Hartford for the West-Indian market. 1835Moodie Ten Yrs. S. Afr. I. 20 Some cold rum-punch..made..in the West Indian fashion. 1885Tennyson Wreck iii. 6 A rich West-Indian isle.
b. in specific names.
1781Latham Synopsis Birds I. i. 287 West Indian Green Parrot. 1804Shaw Gen. Zool. V. 108 West Indian Pike. 1815Burrow Elem. Conchol. 200 Voluta Musica, West Indian Music Shell. 1864Grisebach Flora W. Ind. Isl. 788 West-Indian-bark, Exostemma caribæum.
Hence West Indianness, West Indian quality or character.
1953Caribbean Q. III. iii. 181 We are..still trying to discover what..makes us characteristically West Indian, or if you like, what is the essence of our West Indianness. 1972Ramchand & Gray West Indian Poetry 89 The West Indian poet's confidence about his West Indian-ness. |