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Synonyms

nation

1 American  
[ney-shuhn] / ˈneɪ ʃən /

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.

    Synonyms:
    realm, kingdom, commonwealth, state
  3. a member tribe of an American Indian confederation.

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


Nation 2 American  
[ney-shuhn] / ˈneɪ ʃən /

noun

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


nation British  
/ 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

    1. a federation of tribes, esp American Indians

    2. the territory occupied by such a federation

"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

Related Words

See race 2.

Other Word Forms

  • internation adjective
  • minination noun
  • nationhood noun
  • nationless adjective
  • supernation noun

Etymology

Origin of nation

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

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

But as Rubio said, cowboy lineage can be traced to the Iberian Peninsula — as far back as the late medieval era, before Spain as a nation even existed.

From Los Angeles Times

Although the nation is in danger, it is a different sort from the ones we face daily and, which, being stranger than fiction, have no place here.

From Los Angeles Times

The civil rights activist and organizer, who died on Feb. 17, 2026, helped pave the way for Barack Obama’s election a generation later as the nation’s first – and so far only – African American president.

From Salon

The euro gained against the dollar as details on how the new tariffs will be imposed, and whether trade deals signed between the U.S. and tariff-hit nations will hold, remained unclear.

From The Wall Street Journal

The U.S. announced new global tariffs after the nation’s Supreme Court ruled that the earlier broad based tariffs were unconstitutional.

From The Wall Street Journal