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.

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Nation ² American  

[ney-shuhn] / ˈneɪ ʃən /

noun

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

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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

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

   2. the territory occupied by such a federation

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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

Related Words

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