a large body of people, associated with a particular territory, that is sufficiently conscious of its unity to seek or to possess a government peculiarly its own.
The president spoke to the nation about the new tax.
the territory or country itself.
the nations of Central America.
a member tribe of an American Indian confederation.
an aggregation of persons of the same ethnic family, often speaking the same language or cognate languages.
an aggregation of people or peoples of one or more cultures, races, etc, organized into a single state
the Australian nation
a community of persons not constituting a state but bound by common descent, language, history, etc
the French-Canadian nation
a federation of tribes, esp American Indians
the territory occupied by such a federation
See race 2.
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English, from Latin nātiōn- (stem of nātiō ) “birth, tribe,” equivalent to nāt(us) (past participle of nāscī “to be born”) + -iōn- -ion
A nation is a country and its people. It's also the word used for the Native American tribal federations in the US — the Cherokee Nation, for instance — which have their own governments and territories. Nation comes from the Latin root nat-, which means "born" — the neonatal unit in a hospital is where the newborn babies are cared for. You can also use nation more loosely for ethnic or religious groups: you might speak of "the Jewish nation," meaning not just the country, or nation, of Israel, but Jews all over the world. The Nation of Islam is an African-American Muslim group.
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Appeared in the June 23, 2026, print edition as 'Our Nation in the Limelight'.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 22, 2026
Ticketmaster, a Live Nation subsidiary managing ticketing for the BTS tour in many countries, says it has already "stepped up its fight against ticket scalpers and bots with new AI technology and tougher rules".
From BBC • Jun. 21, 2026
“The favorites are the favorites for a reason,” Anika Howard, CEO of online betting and technology company Wondr Nation, told MarketWatch about the historical predictability of the World Cup.
From MarketWatch • Jun. 11, 2026
An opinion poll last week showed One Nation, for decades a fringe group led by provocateur Pauline Hanson, had become the country's most popular party.
From Barron's • Jun. 5, 2026
In 1775 the Mohawk Nation allied with the British against the separatist settlers.
From "An Indigenous People’s History of the United States" by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
