national
UK/ˈnaʃ.ə.nəl//ˈnæʃ.ə.nəl/
national adjective: pertaining to a nation or country, especially as a whole; affecting, shared by, or existing throughout all of a nation; the state.
Adjective
national (comparative more national, superlative most national)
- Pertaining to a nation or country, especially as a whole; affecting, shared by, or existing throughout all of a nation; the state.
- a national assembly · on the front page of every national newspaper
- Import tariffs were raised for the national interest.
- Belonging to or characteristic of a specific nation or country, as opposed to others.
- this is their national dish · our national tendency to laugh at the French
- Nationalistic; patriotic.
- ‘Come, come, don't deny it: they are really national. Why, now, the Adams are as liberal-minded men as any in the world: but, I don't know how it is, all their workmen are Scotch.’1791, James Boswell, Life of Johnson, Oxford, published 2008, page 599
Noun (1)
national (plural nationals)
- A subject of a nation.
- The diplomats were advised not to interact with any foreign nationals except on official duty.
- A tournament in which participants from all over the nation compete.
- After winning the regional tournament, the team advanced to the nationals.
- A national newspaper.
- I had a crush on Bardot / Fell in love with Monroe / Read about 'em in the nationals / All the juicy little scandals1978, “Blondes (Have More Fun)”, performed by Rod Stewart
- Somebody born under the authority of a given country.
Noun (2) capitalized: National
National (plural Nationals)
- A member of the National Party
- Clipping of New Zealand National Party
national meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
national in Hindi
- pertaining to a nation or country; the state
- राष्ट्रीय rāṣṭrīya
- subject
- राष्ट्रीय rāṣṭrīya
national in Tamil
- pertaining to a nation or country; the state
- தேசிய tēciya
national in Marathi
- pertaining to a nation or country; the state
- राष्ट्रीय rāṣṭrīya
national in Urdu
- pertaining to a nation or country; the state
- قومی qaumi, ملکی mulki
More languagesFewer languages
- national in Bengali
- জাতীয় jatiẏo
- national in Telugu
- జాతీయ jātīya
- national in Malayalam
- ദേശീയ dēśīya
- national in Kannada
- ರಾಷ್ಟ್ರೀಯ
- national in Punjabi
- ਰਾਸ਼ਟਰੀ rāśṭarī
- national in Gujarati
- રાષ્ટ્રિય rāṣṭriya, રાષ્ટ્રીય rāṣṭrīya
- national in Odia
- ଜାତୀଯ଼, ରାଷ୍ଟ୍ରୀଯ଼
- national in Sanskrit
- राष्ट्रीय rāṣṭrīya
- national in Nepali
- राष्ट्रिय rāṣṭriya
- national in Pashto
- ملي millí
- national in Tagalog
- nasyonal, pambansa
- national in Arabic
- وَطَنِيّ waṭaniyy, قَوْمِيّ qawmiyy
- national in Malay
- nasional, bangsa, kebangsaan
- national in Indonesian
- nasional
- national in Persian
- ملی melli, ناسیونال nâsiyonâl
- national in Thai
- ประจำชาติ bprà jam châat, ชาติ châat
- national in Vietnamese
- dân tộc, quốc gia
- national in Myanmar
- နိုင်ငံ nuingngam, အမျိုးသား a.myui:sa:, နိုင်ငံသား nuingngamsa:
- Dhivehi
- ޤައުމީ qaumī
Examples of national in a sentence
- The cold truth is that states rarely undertake military action unless their national interests are at stake.
- Those election results are a quagmire for any coalition except one of national union.
- I think the new laws are extreme, but many believe them necessary for national security.
Synonyms of national
Forms of national
| Adjective | |
|---|---|
| comparative | more national |
| superlative | most national |
| alternative abbreviation | nat'l |
| Noun | |
| plural | nationals |
| plural | Nationals |
Origin of national
From Middle French national, corresponding to nation + -al.
Words formed from national
- anational
- antinational
- anti-national
- binational
- consensus national champion
- crossnational
- cross-national
- DINB
- ethnonational
- extranational
- foreign national
- Grand National
- gross national happiness
- gross national income
- gross national product
- homonational
- infranational
- international
- intranational
- macronational
- micronational
- mononational
- multinational
- national academy
- national accounting
- national airline
- national amnesia
- national-anarchism
- national-anarchist
- national anthem
- national archive
- national assembly
- national assistance
- national average
- national bank
- national bourgeoisie
- national bread
- national call
- National Capital Region
- national character
- national church
- national code
- national conservatism
- national conservative
- national convention
- national costume
- National Country Party
- national court
- National Covenant
- National Curriculum
- national day
- national debt
- National Diet
- national dress
- national emblem
- national emergency
- national epic
- national flag
- national flour
- National Forest
Phrases with national
- National City
- national days
- national grid
- national park
- national road
- Front National
- national debts
- national epics
- national flags
- National Front
- national grids
- national parks
69 more phrasesFewer phrases
- National Party
- National Rally
- national courts
- national flours
- national income
- National League
- national school
- Liberal National
- national anthems
- national emblems
- national holiday
- national revival
- national schools
- national service
- national airlines
- national archives
- national averages
- national costumes
- national holidays
- national interest
- national monument
- national question
- national revivals
- national security
- national treasure
- national academies
- National Bolshevik
- national insurance
- national interests
- national monuments
- national questions
- National Socialism
- national socialist
- national treasures
- New National Party
- national assemblies
- National Bolsheviks
- National Bolshevism
- National Heroes Day
- National Republican
- national serviceman
- national servicemen
- national socialists
- Royal National Park
- Yengo National Park
- National Catholicism
- national conventions
- National Republicans
- National Romanization
- national sports teams
- Liberal National Party
- national conservatives
- gross national products
- National Sleepy Head Day
- national insurance number
- national secondary school
- National Capital Territory
- national insurance numbers
- national school bus chrome
- national secondary schools
- Old National Pronunciation
- National Party South Africa
- Blue Mountains National Park
- National Bureau of Investigation
- National Teacher Appreciation Week
- National Socialist German Workers' Party
- National Day for Truth and Reconciliation
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration
- National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Words that rhyme with national
Questions about national
- What does national mean?
- National means pertaining to a nation or country, especially as a whole; affecting, shared by, or existing throughout all of a nation; the state.
- What is national in Hindi?
- National in Hindi is राष्ट्रीय (rāṣṭrīya). See National meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is national?
- National can be an adjective or a noun.
- How do you pronounce national?
- National is pronounced /ˈnaʃ.ə.nəl/ (UK).
Words near national in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: national (page history and authors); National (page history and authors); national (Kannada, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); national (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). 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-national.ogg.
Cite this entry: “national.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/national. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.