endemic means native to a particular area or culture; originating where it occurs.
endemic is pronounced /ɛnˈdɛm.ɪk/.
Why “endemic” is a great word
Native to, restricted to, or persistently prevalent in a particular geographic area or population. From Ancient Greek ἔνδημος (éndēmos, "native, dwelling in a place"), from ἐν (en, "in") + δῆμος (dêmos, "people, district") + the English suffix -ic. First recorded in English use in the 1650s. Unlike "introduced," which speaks of foreign arrival, or "systemic," which implies a totality of influence, "endemic" describes a deep, localized rootedness. It is the lemur in the fragmented forests of Madagascar, the strain of influenza that circles perpetually in a single valley, or the folk tale that has never traveled beyond the mist of its own hills—a testament to the strange intimacy between a thing and the place that shaped it, the quiet tragedy of being so perfectly adapted that nowhere else will do.
Etymology
From Ancient Greek ἐν (en, “in”) + δῆμος (dêmos, “people”) + -ic. Possibly via Ancient Greek ἔνδημος (éndēmos, “among one's people, at home, native”) and/or French endémique. By surface analysis, en- + demic.
adj
- Native to a particular area or culture; originating where it occurs.e.g.“The endemic religion of Easter Island arrived with the Polynesian settlers.”
- Peculiar to a particular area or region; not found in other places.e.g.“Kangaroos are endemic to Australia.”
- Prevalent in a particular area or region, persistent within a population.e.g.“Malaria is endemic to the tropics.”
noun
- An individual or species that is endemic to a region.e.g.“The species that appeared as a consequence were endemics; that is, they were found nowhere else in the world.”
- A disease affecting a number of people simultaneously, so as to show a distinct connection with certain localities.
Words closest in meaning
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