nation

Forms

nation f (plural nations)^[1] Old French naciuns (plural, first half of the 12th century), nascion (about 1175); nation is a Latinizing spelling of about 1470.^[2][3] Anglo-Norman also naciun and nacioun.^[4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French nacion, borrowed from Latin nātiō (“birth; race, people, nation”), a noun of action beside nātus (“birth”), from nāscor (“to be born”), the source of naître.^{[2][3][5][6][7]} In Christian Latin the plural nātiōnēs meant the heathen nations, as opposed to the people of God, and in Medieval Latin the word named a division of the University of Paris.^[2][3]

Compare Old Occitan natio, Spanish nación, Portuguese nação and Italian nazione.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in the Oxford Psalter (first half of the 12th century), as the plural naciuns, for the heathen as opposed to the Jews in the Bible.^[2][3] About 1175 the Chronique des ducs de Normandie uses nascion for a body of people sharing an origin, a language and a culture.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Old French also used the word for “birth” (about 1165), especially the Nativity, and for “descent, rank, family” (13th century), a sense that died out in the 17th century;^[3][2] La Fontaine used it archaically of an animal species (1668).^[3][2] In the sense of a people it competed with race and gent.^[3] In Middle French it named, after Medieval Latin, the divisions of the University of Paris (about 1470: les quatre nations) and a colony of merchants in a foreign country (third quarter of the 15th century).^[2][3] In the 17th century it was extended, often contemptuously, to any set of people sharing an interest or trade (1651–1657, Scarron: la plus incommode nation du monde).^[2][3]

The modern political notion emerged in the 18th century: with the Revolution the nation was identified with the third estate (1789, Sieyès) and became the legal person formed by all the citizens of the State, as in crime de lèse-nation (July 1789), where it replaced the king.^[3][2] International law has the clause de la nation la plus favorisée (about 1899).^[2] In Canada nation is used for a group of Native American communities, as in les Premières Nations.^[9]

Timeline

• First half of the 12th century – Naciuns “the heathen” in the Oxford Psalter.^[2]
• c. 1165 – “Birth”.^[3]
• c. 1175 – Nascion “a people”.^[2]
• c. 1470 – The four nations of the University of Paris.^[2]
• 1534 – The derivative national.^[5]
• 1651–1657 – Scarron uses it of a class of people.^[2]
• 1789 – Crime de lèse-nation; the nation as a legal person.^[2][3]
• 1798 – Nationalisme.^[5]
• c. 1899 – Clause de la nation la plus favorisée.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. (dated) A group of people thought to share a common origin; a race.^[9][8]
2. A large human group conscious of its historical, social and cultural unity and wishing to live together; a people.^[9][10]
3. A political community on a defined territory under a sovereign authority; a state, a country: l'Organisation des Nations unies.^[9][10]
4. (law) The whole body of citizens, as a legal person holding sovereignty: s'adresser à la nation.^[9][2]
5. (Canada) A group of Native American communities: les Premières Nations.^[9]
6. (historical) A division of a medieval university by students' origin.^[2][3]

Word family

• national
• nationalité
• nationalisme
• nationaliste
• nationaliser
• nationalisation
• dénationaliser
• international
• multinational

Related words

• naître
• nature
• natif
• Latin nātiō

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 m n o p q r s Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
5. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
6. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 7, 41a
8. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
9. ^ a b c d e f Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
10. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse