See Also: nation(medicine)
nation(dictionary)
nation(encyclopedia)
Nation, The(encyclopedia)
nation(2)(dictionary)
nation(1)(dictionary)
The Nation(finance)
The New Nation Bangladesh(finance)
Most Favored Nation(money)
nation state(dictionary)

nation(2) (iou)



nation noun1. ME.
[Old & mod. French from Latin natio(n-) birth, race, from nat- pa. ppl stem of nasci be born: see -ION.]
A large aggregate of people so closely associated with each other by factors such as common descent, language, culture, history, and occupation of the same territory as to be identified as a distinct people, esp. when organized or potentially organizable as a political State. ME.
D. Lessing Africa..has become..a mass of nations.
b. A number of people belonging to a particular nation; a group of people representating a nation. Now rare. LME.
c. In medieval and some Scottish universities, a body of students from a particular district, country, etc., forming a more or less distinct community. M17.
d. A country, a kingdom. rare. Only in M17.
Nationality. LME-M17.
a. A family, one's kindred. rare. LME-E16.
b. An Irish clan. LME-L16.
c. A N. American Indian people. M17.
A particular class or kind of person or animal. LME-L18.
Phrases: a nation of shopkeepers: see SHOPKEEPER 1. comity of nations: see COMITY 2a. grand inquest of the nation, great inquest of the nation: see INQUEST noun. law of nations international law. League of Nations: see LEAGUE noun2. most favoured nation: see FAVOURED adjective2. one nation a nation which is not divided by social inequalities. the Five Nations the five confederate N. American Indian peoples collectively known as the Iroquois. the nation the whole people of a country, esp. in contrast to some smaller or narrower body within it. the nations (a) (in and after biblical use) the heathen nations, the Gentiles; (b) literary the peoples of the earth. two nations two groups within a given nation divided from each other by marked social inequality. United Nations (Organization): see UNITED adjective.
Comb.: nation-state a sovereign State most of the citizens or subjects of which are also united by factors such as language, common descent, etc., which define a nation.