ethnicity

American  

[eth-nis-i-tee] / ɛθˈnɪs ɪ ti /

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.

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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

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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.)

Etymology

Origin of ethnicity

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

Example Sentences

For some, ethnicity and religion are so intertwined that an attack on one is interpreted as an attack on the other.

From BBC • Mar. 21, 2026

Democrats also want to bar DHS officers from detaining people based on their ethnicity, spoken language, accent, or place of work.

From Slate • Feb. 19, 2026

Now it plans to cross off the “other demographics” including race, gender identity, ethnicity and sexual orientation, the people said.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 17, 2026

Researchers adjusted their analysis to account for factors such as age, sex, race and ethnicity, smoking status, and income.

From Science Daily • Feb. 10, 2026

With this body of files we could sift and sort through the population of the district by gender, race, ethnicity, party affiliation, occupation.

From "Native Speaker" by Chang-rae Lee