nation

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Contents 1 English 1.1 Pronunciation 1.2 Etymology 1 1.2.1 Noun 1.2.1.1 Usage notes 1.2.1.2 Derived terms 1.2.1.3 Related terms 1.2.1.4 Translations 1.2.1.5 See also 1.3 Etymology 2 1.3.1 Noun 1.3.2 Adverb 1.3.3 References

[edit] English

[edit] Pronunciation

• enPR: nā'shən, IPA: /ˈneɪʃən/, SAMPA: /"neIS@n/
•  Audio (US)^{help, file}

  Rhymes: -eɪʃən

[edit] Etymology 1

From Old & modern French nation, from Latin natio, from nat-, past participle stem of nasci “to be born”

[edit] Noun

nation (plural nations)

1. A group of people sharing aspects of language, culture and/or ethnicity.

   The Roma are a nation without a country.

2. A historically constituted, stable community of people, formed on the basis of a common language, territory, economic life, and psychological make-up manifested in a common culture

   The Kurdish people constitute a nation in the Middle East

3. (law) (international law) A sovereign state.

   Though legally single nations, many states comprise several distinct cultural or ethnic groups.

[edit] Usage notes

(British) Following the establishment of the Scottish and Welsh parliaments, England, Scotland and Wales are normally considered distinct nations. Application of the term nation to the United Kingdom as a whole is deprecated in most style guides, including the BBC, most newspapers and in UK Government publications. Northern Ireland, being of less clear legal status, generally remains a province.

[edit] Derived terms

• nation building
• nation-state
• United Nations
• First Nations

[edit] Related terms

antenatal innate nascent natal national nationality native

nativity nativization nativism nature natural naturism naturalism prenatal

[edit] Translations

[edit] See also

• country
• culture
• homeland
• ethnicity
• people
• race
• society
• state

[edit] Etymology 2

Probably short for damnation

[edit] Noun

nation

1. Damnation.

[edit] Adverb

nation

1. (chiefly dialectal) Extremely; very

   I'm nation sorry for you. -- Mark Twain

[edit] References

• "Notable and Quotable," Merriam Webster Online Newsletter (November, 2005) [1] (as accessed on December 23, 2005).