nationalism

Etymology

It is formed from English national + -ism,^[2][3][4][5] probably on the model of German Nationalismus, recorded from 1774.^[2] Etymonline instead derives it from nationalist and the suffix, with some uses taken from French nationalisme, which the OED dates to 1798.^[6][2] The base word nation goes back to Latin nātiō (“birth, race, people”), from nāscor (“to be born”).^[7][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Support for the interests of one's own nation, especially at the expense of others: 1798, in R. Clifford's translation of Barruel's Memoirs.^[2][8] Merriam-Webster's Unabridged also dates it to 1798.^[4]

Semantic evolution

Other dictionaries date the word later: Merriam-Webster's Collegiate to 1844, Dictionary.com to 1830–40, and Etymonline to 1841, when it meant devotion to one's country and the wish for national unity, independence or prosperity, often with reference to Ireland.^[9][5][6] With a capital, Nationalism was the programme of the Irish Nationalist Party (1882–1922), from 1885.^[2][8] Two rare senses died out: a national turn of speech or idiom (1823–46) and the theological doctrine that God chooses nations rather than individuals (1836).^[2][8] In the United States in 1889 it named a proposed socialism built on the nationalization of industry, inspired by Edward Bellamy's novel Looking Backward.^[2]

Timeline

• 1798 – support for one's own nation's interests.^[2][4]
• 1823–46 – a national idiom (obsolete).^[2][8]
• 1836 – the doctrine of the election of nations (obsolete).^[2]
• 1841 – devotion to one's country, often of Ireland (Etymonline).^[6]
• 1844 – Merriam-Webster's Collegiate date.^[9]
• 1885 – the programme of the Irish Nationalist Party.^[2]
• 1889 – a proposed American form of socialism.^[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. Loyalty and devotion to one's nation, especially when it sets that nation above all others.
2. The belief that a people with a shared culture or ethnicity should form its own state; a movement for national independence.
3. The view that a country does best by pursuing its own aims rather than acting together with others.

Word family

• nationalist
• nationalistic
• nationalistically
• supernationalism

Related words

• patriotism
• chauvinism
• internationalism

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
6. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
8. ^ a b c d Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)
9. ^ a b Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster