ethnicity

American  

[eth-nis-i-tee] / ɛθˈnɪs ɪ ti /

noun

• ethnicities
  plural

1. an ethnic group; a social group that shares a common and distinctive culture, religion, language, or the like.

   Representatives of several ethnicities were present.

2. ethnic traits, background, allegiance, or association.

   The graph shows class enrollment by gender and ethnicity.

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ethnicity Cultural  

1. Identity with or membership in a particular racial, national, or cultural group and observance of that group's customs, beliefs, and language.

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Usage

race ²

Discover More

Many minority groups in the United States maintain strong ethnic identity; especially in cities, immigrants are often attracted to ethnic communities established by people from their own country, communities in which many traditional cultural features are maintained. (See melting pot.)

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• ethnicities
  plural

Etymology

Origin of ethnicity

First recorded in 1765–75, for earlier sense; ethnic + -ity

Explanation

A person's ethnicity is their ethnic traits, classification, or association. If your ethnicity is Italian, you might speak Italian in the home and eat Italian food. Or you might simply refer to yourself as Italian and identify with your ethnicity in no other way. Usually, ethnicity is a collective noun, but in the singular, an ethnicity is a particular ethnic group. The adjective ethnic relates to large groups of people who have certain racial, cultural, religious, or other traits in common. In Middle English, ethnic meant heathen or pagan. The word is from Late Latin ethnicus, from Greek ethnikos "foreign," from ethnos "nation."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

ethnicity ethnicities

It is now an offence for players or officials to insult someone because of their race, religion, ethnicity, colour, nationality or background.

From Barron's ● Aug. 20, 2026

McManus says there could be many reasons why a person's ethnicity is not put out in the media.

From BBC ● Aug. 17, 2026

Sex, race, ethnicity, age and body mass index did not significantly affect the likelihood of experiencing the benefit.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 1, 2026

I asked El-Sayed if, when people argue he’s unelectable, he felt they were talking about his ethnicity or his politics.

From Slate ● Jul. 30, 2026

When people inquire about my ethnicity, I prefer to say that I’m Iranian.

From "Americanized" by Sara Saedi

The influence and ethnicities blended in discreetly over the centuries, Guevarra says.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 24, 2026

“When we separate and look at all the distinct Asian ethnicities, we see a wide variation,” Cheng said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 6, 2026

The Home Office has already carried out testing on images of people across different ethnicities and genders, including those that make up the asylum-seeking population, already in its operational system.

From BBC ● May 28, 2026

The 44-year-old is deeply engrained in United's culture and has no doubts about the integrity of the club's efforts to be welcoming to people of all ethnicities.

From Barron's ● Feb. 20, 2026

The sight of boys of so many ethnicities in one place began to open Luma’s eyes to what was happening in Clarkston, just down the road from her own home.

From "Outcasts United: An American Town, a Refugee Team, and One Woman's Quest to Make a Difference" by Warren St. John