nation

[ ney-shuhn ]
See synonyms for nation on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. 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.

  2. the territory or country itself: the nations of Central America.

  1. a member tribe of an American Indian confederation.

  2. an aggregation of persons of the same ethnic family, often speaking the same language or cognate languages.

Origin of nation

1
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

synonym study For nation

1. See race2.

Other words for nation

Other words from nation

  • na·tion·hood, noun
  • na·tion·less, adjective
  • in·ter·na·tion, adjective
  • min·i·na·tion, noun
  • su·per·na·tion, noun

Words Nearby nation

Other definitions for Nation (2 of 2)

Nation
[ ney-shuhn ]

noun
  1. Carry or Carrie (Amelia Moore), 1846–1911, U.S. temperance leader.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use nation in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for nation

nation

/ (ˈneɪʃən) /


noun
  1. an aggregation of people or peoples of one or more cultures, races, etc, organized into a single state: the Australian nation

  2. 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

Origin of nation

1
C13: via Old French from Latin nātiō birth, tribe, from nascī to be born

Derived forms of nation

  • nationhood, noun
  • nationless, adjective

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012