Endemic Meaning
/ɛnˈdɛm.ɪk/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
adjNative to a particular area or culture; originating where it occurs.
adjPeculiar to a particular area or region; not found in other places.
Sentence Examples
The giant weta is endemic to New Zealand.
Algeria needs to eliminate its endemic corruption.
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
CEFR Practice Quiz
This plant is ____ to the island and cannot survive in other climates.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
This rare species of bird is ____ to this specific island.
Word Origin & History
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.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"[…] a continental northern Alaskan element, including a series of endemic species and disjuncts that have survived the Pleistocene glaciation in northern Alaska and thus represent relicts of the much warmer Tertiary […]"
— 1966 October, Rudolf M[athias] Schuster, The Hepaticae and Anthocerotae of North America: East of the Hundredth Meridian, volume I, New York, N.Y.; London: Columbia University Press, →OCLC, page 4:
"1998, Gillian Catriona Ramchand, Deconstructing the Lexicon, in Miriam Butt and Wilhelm Geuder, eds. “The Projection of Arguments”
These problems are endemic to the theory of thematic roles as currently conceived, because the classification it implies simply does not correspond to legitimate linguistic semantic definitions."
—
"In a country where corruption is endemic, no evidence has been presented that Ms Yingluck took any money from the rice scheme, which in 2012 and 2013 cost Thailand billions of dollars. But a state-appointed committee last year ordered her to pay the fine, finding she was to blame, even though it was government policy."
— 2017 July 26, Lindsay Murdoch, “Yingluck Shinawatra, Thailand's first female PM, faces financial ruin and jail”, in The Sydney Morning Herald;:
"The species that appeared as a consequence were endemics; that is, they were found nowhere else in the world."
— 2004, Richard Fortey, The Earth, Folio Society, published 2011, page 34:
Explore More C1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
This plant is ____ to the island and cannot survive in other climates.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
This rare species of bird is ____ to this specific island.