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

Derived Forms

• ˈnationˌhood, noun
• ˈnationless, adjective

Other Words From

• nation·hood noun
• nation·less adjective
• inter·nation adjective
• mini·nation noun
• super·nation 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

As a whole, the US is currently 11th worldwide and fifth among developed nations for Covid-19 deaths.

From Vox

The region’s nations have all had their eyes on the prize since the discovery of gas there a few years ago.

From Ozy

Their decisions will almost inevitably make the nation more divided, with those worst off relegated to a nightmare future in which they are left to fend for themselves.

From ProPublica

As a nation, we became inured to a national death toll that has only recently dropped below a thousand people a day.

From ProPublica

A downtown federal jail now has one of the steepest numbers of active cases in any federal prison facility in the nation.

From Voice of San Diego

Congress is now 92 percent Christian, resembling more to a papal enclave than our religiously diverse nation.

From The Daily Beast

If Congress accurately reflected our nation on the basis of race, about 63 percent would be white, not 80 percent.

From The Daily Beast

They carved a refuge out of the wilderness and then, in 200 years, built it into the most powerful nation on earth.

From The Daily Beast

The television networks interrupt their broadcasts to take the nation directly to Selma.

From The Daily Beast

And besides, as a nation, we hold this truth to be self-evident:  resolutions are made to be broken.

From The Daily Beast

My son,” said Grabantak one evening to Chingatok, “if we are henceforth to live in peace, why not unite and become one nation?

From Project Gutenberg

He could not tell what I meant by secrets of state, where an enemy or some rival nation were not in the case.

From Project Gutenberg

For the first time in his experience the Corsican had to meet the forces of a nation and not of a government.

From Project Gutenberg

Gourges fitted out three vessels and 150 soldiers at his own expense to revenge their death, and repair the honor of his nation.

From Project Gutenberg

He made a violent assault against the nation of his enemies, and in the descent he destroyed the adversaries.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

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