nation English · revision 2818

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=before 1300, Kyng Alisaunder|origins=ine-pro *ǵenh₁-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈneɪ.ʃən/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|nacioun]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) [[bor|fro|nacion|t=birth, rank; descendants; country, homeland]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) and directly [[bor|la|nātiō|t=birth, origin; breed, stock; race of people, tribe]] (accusative nātiōnem),^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) literally “that which has been born”,^(Etymonline) from [[m|la|nātus]], past participle of [[m|la|nāscī|t=to be born]] (Old Latin gnāscī),^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) from [[ine-pro|*ǵenh₁-|alt=*gene-|t=to give birth, beget]].^(Etymonline) It is related to [[native]], [[nature]] and [[innate]].^(Cresswell 2021)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A race of people, a large group of common descent and language: probably before 1300, in ''Kyng Alisaunder'',^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989) about 1300 in Etymonline.^(Etymonline) The link between birth and country is the idea of a people sharing a common ancestry or culture.^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In English the word has a broad sense, a people of the same ethnic family and language, and a narrower one, a political society.^(Etymonline) The political sense emerged by the 16th century, perhaps the late 14th, and has gradually predominated.^(Etymonline) In biblical use ''the nations'' were the heathen, the Gentiles, from before 1340.^(OED 1989) In medieval universities a nation was a body of students from one region, from about 1411.^(OED 1989) The older sense survives in the use of ''nation'' for the native peoples of North America, from the 1640s.^(Etymonline) ''National'' is from 1597,^(Barnhart 1988) and ''nation-state'' from 1918.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * before 1300 – a people of common descent.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * before 1340 – ''the nations'', the Gentiles.^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1411 – a university nation.^(OED 1989)

+ * 16th century – a political society.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1597 – ''national''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1640s – a native North American people.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1918 – ''nation-state''.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A large group of people under one, usually independent, [[government]]; a [[country]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # A people sharing customs, origins, history and often language; a [[nationality]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # A [[federation]] or tribe, especially of [[Native American]] peoples: ''the Navajo Nation''.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # The government of a [[sovereign]] state.^(AHD)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[nationhood]]

+ * [[nationless]]

+ * [[cybernation]]

+ * [[internation]]

+ * [[national]]

+ * [[nation-state]]

+ * [[nationwide]]

+ * [[supernation]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[antenatal]]

+ * [[innate]]

+ * [[nascent]]

+ * [[natal]]

+ * [[native]]

+ * [[nativism]]

+ * [[nativity]]

+ * [[natural]]

+ * [[naturalism]]

+ * [[nature]]

+ * [[naturism]]

+ * [[prenatal]]

+ * [[nationality]]

+ * [[naive]]

+ * [[renaissance]]

+ * [[kin]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ A separate dialect and US ''nation'', “very, extremely; very great”, used in oaths, is a shortening of [[damnation]], from the 1760s.^(OED 1989)^(SOED 2002)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}