nation
/ˈneɪʃən/
nation noun: a historically constituted, stable community of people, formed based on a common language, territory, economic life, ethnicity and/or psychological make-up manifested in a common culture.
Noun (1)
nation (plural nations)
- A historically constituted, stable community of people, formed based on a common language, territory, economic life, ethnicity and/or psychological make-up manifested in a common culture.
- The Roma are a nation without a country.
- pre-Columbian nations
- A community united by some trait (especially an interest) but not historically constituted.
- Near-synonym: tribe
- the Dallas Cowboys nation
- A sovereign state; (loosely, metonymic, proscribed) a country.
- Though legally single nations, many states comprise several distinct cultural or ethnic groups.
- It is tempting to speculate about the incentives or compulsions that might explain why anyone would take to the skies in [the] basket [of a balloon]: […] perhaps to muse on the irrelevance of the borders that separate nation states and keep people from understanding their shared environment.2013 June 7, David Simpson, “Fantasy of navigation”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 188, number 26, page 36
- An association of students based on the birthplace or ethnicity of its members.
- Once widespread across Europe in medieval times, nations are now largely restricted to the ancient universities of Sweden and Finland.
- Synonyms:
- student nation
- A great number; a great deal.
- […]and what a nation of herbs he had procured to mollify her humours, &c. &c.[…]1762, Laurence Sterne, The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman, new edition, volume V, Altenburgh: G. E. Richter, published 1772, page 57
- In North America, an Indigenous people with federal and/or state recognition as such and (often also) their federally recognized territory.
- The Choctaw Nation is the third-largest federally recognized tribe in the United States and the second-largest Indian reservation in area.
- The term Navajo Nation refers both to the people and to their territory.
Noun (2)
nation
- Damnation.
- ... what the nation's the matter of that boy now ? If he's got them highsterics ag'in , I'll blister him from the crown of his head to the soles of his feet , sure as he's a - livin ' . " The doctor took up his hat and started out to meet[…]1875, Lippincott's Magazine of Popular Literature and Science, page 611
- O nation!.. if I were a man, […]1896, Hardy, Laodicean, page 487, quoted in the EDD
Adverb
nation
- Extremely, very.
- “Looky here, Bilgewater,” he says, “I’m nation sorry for you, but you ain’t the only person that’s had troubles like that.”1884 December 10, Mark Twain [pseudonym; Samuel Langhorne Clemens], chapter XIX, in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: (Tom Sawyer’s Comrade) […], London: Chatto & Windus, […], →OCLC, page 186
- "Beleddy, Mester, yo're a dab hand at axing questions, at ony rate! One has to look back a 'nation long way into one's books to find what yo I axen after.1856, Mary Botham Howitt, My uncle the clockmaker, page 10
Adjective
nation
- An intensifier; extreme, great.
- ... a nation deal o' trouble to captivate him.1839, Grace Darling, Grace Darling, or the Heroine of the Fern Islands. A tale founded on recent facts. [With plates.], page 4
- ... a nation lot of hunters assembled, for it war known there war plenty of game ...1840, Sporting Magazine, page 227
Proper noun capitalized: Nation
Nation (plural Nations)
- A surname.
nation meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
nation in Hindi
- community of people
- समाज samāj, क़ौम qaum, मिल्लत millat
- sovereign state
- राज्य rājya, राष्ट्र rāṣṭra, जाति jāti
nation in Tamil
- community of people
- நாடு nāṭu
nation in Marathi
- sovereign state
- राष्ट्र rāṣṭra
nation in Urdu
- community of people
- قَوم qaum
- sovereign state
- رِیاسَت riyāsat
More languagesFewer languages
- nation in Bengali
- কওম koōm, মিল্লত millot, উম্মত ummot, রাষ্ট্র raśṭro
- nation in Telugu
- జాతి jāti
- nation in Malayalam
- രാജ്യം rājyaṁ
- nation in Kannada
- ರಾಷ್ಟ್ರ rāṣṭra
- nation in Punjabi
- قوم qaum, ਕੌਮ kaum, ਕ਼ੌਮ qaum, ਜਾਤੀ jātī
- nation in Gujarati
- રાષ્ટ્ર
- nation in Odia
- ରାଷ୍ଟ୍ର
- nation in Sanskrit
- राष्ट्र rāṣṭra
- nation in Sinhala
- රාජ්යය rājyaya, ජාතිය jātiya
- nation in Nepali
- राष्ट्र rāṣṭra
- nation in Pashto
- ملت millat, ولس wolᶕs, دولت dawlát
- nation in Tagalog
- bansa, lipunan, nasyon
- nation in Arabic
- أُمَّة ʔumma, قَوْم qawm, دَوْلَة dawla, وَطَن waṭan
- nation in Malay
- bangsa, negara
- nation in Indonesian
- bangsa, negara
- nation in Persian
- مِلَّت mellat, دُوْلَت dowlat
- nation in Thai
- ประชาชน bprà-chaa-chon, ประชาชาติ bprà-chaa-châat, รัฐ rát, ชาติ châat
- nation in Vietnamese
- dân tộc, quốc dân, nhà nước, quốc gia
- nation in Myanmar
- လူမျိုးသည် lu-myui:sany, လူမျိုး lu-myui:, ပြည်သူပြည်သား pranysu-pranysa:, နိုင်ငံ nuingngam
Examples of nation in a sentence
- All the ends of the woꝛld ſhall remember, and turne vnto the Lord: and all the kinreds of the nations ſhall woꝛſhip befoꝛe thee.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Psalms 22:27:
- Did Pinterest create a culture of do-it-yourselfers, or did the DIY nation create Pinterest?2016 May 5, Johansson Anna, “5 Marketing Tips for Reaching the DIY Generation”, in Entrepreneur, retrieved 21 Dec 2023:
- "What the nation's the matter with our John?" he broke off suddenly as his eyes fell on the occupant of the cot.2025 March 2, Warren H. Miller, Red Mesa : A tale of the southwest, Good Press:
- But no sense ov a place, some think, Is this here hill so high, - 'Cos there, full oft, 'tis nation coad, But that don't argufy.1896, English Dialect Society, Publications, page 71:
Synonyms of nation
Forms of nation
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | nations |
| alternative form | 'nation |
| Proper noun | |
| plural | Nations |
Origin of nation
From Middle English nacioun, nacion, from Old French nacion, from Latin nātiōnem, accusative of nātiō (“nation”). Displaced Old English þēod.
Short for damnation or tarnation.
Words formed from nation
- aspirant nation
- bedroom nation
- bug nation
- captive nation
- cybernation
- Delaware Nation
- domestic dependent nation
- egonation
- father of the nation
- First Nation
- First Nations
- Ford Nation
- Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation
- home nation
- independent mini-nation
- indispensable nation
- internation
- macronation
- micronation
- mini-nation
- model nation
- most favored nation
- most favoured nation
- mother of the nation
- multination
- Munsee-Delaware Nation
- nanonation
- natiolect
- national
- nation-builder
- nation-building
- nationful
- nationhood
- nationism
- nationist
- nationless
- nationlike
- Nation of Islam
- nation of laws
- nationship
- nation-state
- nation state
- nationwide
- nation wrecker
- Navajo Nation
- Neutral Nation
- new nation project
- one nation
- one-nation conservatism
- one-nation conservative
- plurination
- project nation
- proposition nation
- pseudonation
- pseudo-nation
- ronation
- Six Nations of the Grand River
- space nation
- State of the Nation
- student nation
Phrases with nation
- MHA Nation
- Test nation
- Osage Nation
- nation states
- Rainbow Nation
- Red Sox Nation
- nation wreckers
- Body of a Nation
- First Nation band
- First Nation bands
- new nation projects
- Southern Cherokee Nation
1 more phrasesFewer phrases
Words that rhyme with nation
- station
- collation
- accommodation
- presentation
- derivation
- information
- modulation
- translation
- application
- fixation
- generation
- orientation
48 more rhymesFewer rhymes
- citation
- combination
- communication
- conjugation
- constellation
- determination
- elevation
- operation
- relation
- reservation
- alternation
- condensation
- conversation
- deviation
- excavation
- foliation
- formation
- foundation
- incarnation
- interpretation
- representation
- retardation
- speculation
- termination
- abbreviation
- adaptation
- articulation
- bifurcation
- concentration
- congregation
- declination
- degradation
- expectation
- extenuation
- gradation
- observation
- population
- preparation
- reconciliation
- rotation
- separation
- situation
- vexation
- vindication
- accumulation
- administration
- aggregation
- appropriation
Questions about nation
- What does nation mean?
- Nation means a historically constituted, stable community of people, formed based on a common language, territory, economic life, ethnicity and/or psychological make-up manifested in a common culture.
- What is nation in Hindi?
- Nation in Hindi is समाज (samāj), क़ौम (qaum), मिल्लत (millat). See Nation meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use nation in a sentence?
- All the ends of the woꝛld ſhall remember, and turne vnto the Lord: and all the kinreds of the nations ſhall woꝛſhip befoꝛe thee.
- What part of speech is nation?
- Nation can be a noun, an adverb, an adjective or a proper noun.
- How do you pronounce nation?
- Nation is pronounced /ˈneɪʃən/.
- What is the plural of nation?
- The plural of nation is nations.
Words near nation in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: nation (page history and authors); Nation (page history and authors); ರಾಷ್ಟ್ರ (Kannada) (page history and authors); قوم (Punjabi) (page history and authors); nation (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); nation (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); राष्ट्र (Nepali) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-nation.ogg.
Cite this entry: “nation.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/nation. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.