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

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Etymology

Origin of ethnicity

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

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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

Most of the victims were from foreign backgrounds and prosecutors are investigating whether the acts targeted the "real or supposed race, ethnicity, nationality or religion" of the victims.

From Barron's ● Oct. 23, 2026

Where the ethnicity of the victim was known in the race and religion related hate crimes, around one third of victims were identified as Asian and around a quarter as black.

From BBC ● Oct. 8, 2026

Higher levels of education, Hispanic ethnicity and Tricare-paid births were associated with fewer deaths.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 8, 2026

Born in Battambang, Ali, 52, is of mixed Malay, Khmer, Thai and Cham ethnicity, and was raised Muslim in a country that’s 96% Buddhist.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 25, 2026

As she was answering questions, a couple of adults asked her what ethnicity she was, Croatian?

From "The Freedom Writers Diary" by The Freedom Writers

Malaysia said 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

She added that no single criterion is weighted above the others and that Aritzia’s employees reflect a range of backgrounds, ages, ethnicities and body types.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 10, 2026

I was surrounded by kids of all ethnicities at school, from Black to white to Persian to Vietnamese.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 21, 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

Every race, dozens of ethnicities, different ways of dressing, and, certainly, widely varying opinions about politics and life and Islam.

From "Internment" by Samira Ahmed

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