nation

¹

[ney-shuhn]

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

[ney-shuhn]

noun

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

nation

/ 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

3. 1. a federation of tribes, esp American Indians

   2. the territory occupied by such a federation

Other Word Forms

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of nation¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of nation¹

C13: via Old French from Latin nātiō birth, tribe, from nascī to be born

Synonym Study

See race ².

Example Sentences

The University of California, San Diego, is widely considered one of the nation’s top public universities, ranking sixth in U.S.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

The overriding goal of any peace is letting Ukraine survive as an independent nation that can determine its own future.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Even for Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation, the St. Mary’s abduction was large.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

They wanted to go unbeaten and prove they were the No. 1 team in the nation.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Security Minister Dan Jarvis said: "We will stand together as a nation - honouring all those impacted by terrorism and the horrific experiences they have endured".

Read more on BBC

Related Words

• community 
• democracy 
• people 
• population 
• public 
• society 
• state 
• tribe 
• union