ethnicity

[eth-nis-i-tee]

noun

plural

ethnicities 

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.

ethnicity

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

Usage

race ²

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.)

Word History and Origins

Origin of ethnicity¹

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

Example Sentences

He also became a hero in Vietnam, partly for his ethnicity, one assumes, but also because he was credited with a photograph that arguably changed American sentiments about the war and war in general.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

"The rest of my awards are based on my writing, not my ethnicity," he told the Globe and Mail in an interview published on Monday.

Read more on BBC

Department of Education alleging that Berkeley public schools ignored reports of bullying and harassment of Jewish students on the basis of their ethnicity, shared ancestry and national origin.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Most European states were created out of a prior sense of a common ethnicity or language.

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The study found that while Democrats were largely consistent in their opposition to these immigration policies, Republican sentiment varied more, especially by age, gender and ethnicity.

Read more on Los Angeles Times