Etymologically
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ethnicity

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 24 October 2026 at 18:44. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • /ɛθˈnɪsɪti/[1]

Etymology

It is formed from English ethnic + -ity.[2][3][4][5] In its first, obsolete sense it follows Spanish etnicidad, used in 1758 in the Spanish passage translated in the first English quotation.[2] The adjective ethnic is from Late Latin ethnicus (“heathen, pagan”), from Ancient Greek ἐθνικός (ethnikós, “national, foreign, Gentile”), from ἔθνος (éthnos, “nation, people”).[2][6][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Paganism, heathen superstition: 1772, in T. Nugent's translation of a work by J. F. de Isla; a rare sense, now obsolete.[2][7][4]

Semantic evolution

The sense of belonging to a group regarded as sharing descent or a national or cultural tradition is recorded from 1920, in I. B. Berkson's Theories of Americanization,[2][8][7] and Etymonline dates "ethnic character" to 1953.[3] The Shorter Oxford places the modern sense in the mid-20th century.[4]

Timeline

  • 1772 – paganism, heathen superstition (obsolete).[2][7]
  • 1920 – membership of an ethnic group; ethnic character.[2][8]
  • 1953 – Etymonline's date for "ethnic character".[3]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. The fact of belonging to a group of people who share a culture, tradition, language or descent: Applicants were asked to state their age and ethnicity.
  2. A particular ethnic group or affiliation.
  • ethnic
  • ethnical
  • ethnology
  • ethnos
  • ethnography

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  6. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  7. ^ a b c Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)
  8. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster