nation French · revision 38637

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=first half of the 12th century, Oxford Psalter|origins=la nāscor}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /na.sjɔ̃/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''nation''' ''f'' (plural nations)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old French [[m|fro|naciuns]] (plural, first half of the 12th century), [[m|fro|nascion]] (about 1175); ''nation'' is a Latinizing spelling of about 1470.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) Anglo-Norman also [[m|xno|naciun]] and [[m|xno|nacioun]].^(AND)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|fro|nacion]], [[bor|la|nātiō|t=birth; race, people, nation]], a noun of action beside [[m|la|nātus|t=birth]], from [[m|la|nāscor|t=to be born]], the source of [[naître]].^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(FEW|7, 41a) In Christian Latin the plural [[m|la-ecc|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.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ Compare [[pro|natio]], [[es|nación]], [[pt|nação]] and [[it|nazione]].^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==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.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) About 1175 the ''Chronique des ducs de Normandie'' uses ''nascion'' for a body of people sharing an origin, a language and a culture.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==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;^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi) La Fontaine used it archaically of an animal species (1668).^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi) In the sense of a people it competed with [[race]] and [[gent]].^(DHLF 1992) 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).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) 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'').^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ 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.^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi) International law has the ''clause de la nation la plus favorisée'' (about 1899).^(TLFi) In Canada ''nation'' is used for a group of Native American communities, as in ''les Premières Nations''.^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * First half of the 12th century – ''Naciuns'' “the heathen” in the Oxford Psalter.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1165 – “Birth”.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * c. 1175 – ''Nascion'' “a people”.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1470 – The four ''nations'' of the University of Paris.^(TLFi)

+ * 1534 – The derivative ''national''.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+ * 1651–1657 – Scarron uses it of a class of people.^(TLFi)

+ * 1789 – ''Crime de lèse-nation''; the nation as a legal person.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1798 – ''Nationalisme''.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+ * c. 1899 – ''Clause de la nation la plus favorisée''.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(dated)'' A group of people thought to share a common origin; a [[m|en|race]].^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Littré 1873)

+ # A large human group conscious of its historical, social and cultural unity and wishing to live together; a [[m|en|people]].^(Petit Robert 2007)^(GLLF 1989)

+ # A political community on a defined territory under a sovereign authority; a [[m|en|state]], a country: ''l'Organisation des Nations unies''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(GLLF 1989)

+ # ''(law)'' The whole body of citizens, as a legal person holding [[m|en|sovereignty]]: ''s'adresser à la nation''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(TLFi)

+ # ''(Canada)'' A group of Native American communities: ''les Premières Nations''.^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # ''(historical)'' A division of a medieval university by students' origin.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[national]]

+ * [[nationalité]]

+ * [[nationalisme]]

+ * [[nationaliste]]

+ * [[nationaliser]]

+ * [[nationalisation]]

+ * [[dénationaliser]]

+ * [[international]]

+ * [[multinational]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[naître]]

+ * [[nature]]

+ * [[natif]]

+ * [[la|nātiō]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}