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

Friends of Slate Richard L. Revesz and Sarah Wheaton explain in Slate how a proposed regulation attempts to stop collecting race and ethnicity data, which could have wide-ranging implications for public health.

From Slate ● Sep. 24, 2026

She is also scheduled to teach two other classes this spring: one on African-American politics and another on the politics of race, ethnicity and immigration.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 23, 2026

The university said in a statement it can prove otherwise and “is committed to ensuring that every student is admitted based on their merit, and not on their race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2026

That relationship remained even after the researchers accounted for differences in age, sex, race, ethnicity, and education level.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 7, 2026

Once again I was struck by the great power of nationalism and ethnicity.

From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela

Malaysia says about 5,000 Myanmar nationals have agreed to "voluntary" return, but authorities have not commented on the ethnicities of those who have returned.

From Barron's ● Oct. 6, 2026

If he does, he’ll empower more kids—of all ethnicities and socioeconomic backgrounds—to access more learning options and better schools.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 11, 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

But at Carville, people of all ethnicities and social classes—from the destitute to the wealthy—intermingle.

From "At Last She Stood" by Erin Entrada Kelly