See Also: Air National(tourism)
national(dictionary)
National(money)
National(dictionary)
national monument(dictionary)
national dress(dictionary)
national debt(dictionary)
national costume(dictionary)
National Front, the(dictionary)
National Socialism(encyclopedia)

national (iou)



national adjective & noun. L16.
[French, formed as NATION noun1: see -AL1.]
A. adjective.
Of or pertaining to a nation or country, esp. as a whole; affecting or shared by the whole nation. L16.
Bolingbroke A Spirit of Liberty will be always..concerned about national Interests. G. Borrow An officer in the national cavalry. Listener A large slice of the Italian national cake is now based on the motor-car industry. V. Cronin A time of national danger, with Russia fighting a two-front war. M. Brett The national newspapers derive a large portion of their revenue from financial advertising.
b. Of or pertaining to the French Government during the time of the First Republic. L18.
c. In the war of 1939-45, designating foodstuffs made to official specifications for nationwide distribution. M20.
national flour, national loaf, etc.
Of or pertaining to a particular nation or country, as opp. to another or others; peculiar to or identified specifically with the people of a particular country, characteristic or distinctive of a nation. E17.
R. Wilbur The national habit Of allowing each sentence to trail off. M. West The German Academy was one of the..most prestigious national academies in Rome.
Patriotic, strongly upholding one's own nation; devoted to the interests of the nation as a whole. Now rare. E18.
Special collocations: national anthem: see ANTHEM noun 3. National Assembly an assembly consisting of representatives of all parts of a nation; an elected house of legislature in any of various countries; spec. (Hist.) the first of the revolutionary assemblies of France, in session 1789-91. National Assistance a form of welfare payment provided under National Insurance in the UK between 1948 and 1965. national bank a bank associated with the national finances; US a bank whose circulating notes are secured by US bonds deposited with the Government. national convention (a) Hist. (National Convention) an assembly which governed France from 1792-5; (b) US a convention of a major political party to nominate a candidate for the presidency etc. National Covenant: see COVENANT noun. national curriculum a curriculum that State schools in England and Wales have been required to follow since 1990, involving the teaching of specified subjects and assessment at specified ages. National Debt: see DEBT noun. national football Austral. Australian Rules football. National Front a political group in Britain with extreme reactionary views on immigration etc. National Government a coalition government, esp. one subordinating party differences to the national interest in a time of crisis, as that in Britain under Ramsay MacDonald in 1931-5. national grid (a) a network of high voltage power lines interconnecting the major power stations and distribution centres in a country; (b) a metric coordinate system and reference grid used by cartographers (spec. in the British Isles, by the Ordnance Survey) and printed on maps. national guard spec. (a) (a member of) an armed force existing in France at various times between 1789 and 1871; (b) (with cap. initials) in the US, a militia force largely maintained by a particular State but available for federal use. National Health (Service) the system of national medical service in the UK, largely financed by taxation. national holiday a holiday observed throughout a country. National Hunt (Committee) the body controlling steeplechasing and hurdle-racing in Great Britain. national income the total money earned within a country. National Insurance: see INSURANCE 2d. national minority a minority group, belonging historically to another nationality, feeling or felt to be distinct from the majority in a country. national park an area of land set aside as national property to be kept in a more or less natural state for the public benefit, preservation of wild life, etc. National Party any of various political parties or groups having nationalist policies or (supposedly) having national support or acting in the national interest (Scottish National Party: see SCOTTISH adjective). national product the monetary value of all goods and services produced in a country in one year (gross national product: see GROSS adjective 6; net national product: see NET adjective2 & adverb). National Savings a savings scheme run by or on behalf of a government and in which the funds deposited are available for the use of the government. national school a school conducted and supported to a greater or less extent by the State. national service service in the armed forces under conscription for a specified period. national serviceman a person performing national service. National Socialism in Germany, the doctrines of nationalism, racial purity, anti-Communism, and the all-powerful role of the State, advocated by Adolf Hitler; Nazism. National Socialist noun & adjective (a) noun in Germany, a member of the highly nationalistic and totalitarian National Socialist Workers' Party led by Adolf Hitler (from 1920), a Nazi; (b) adjective of or pertaining to this party or the doctrines of National Socialism. national theatre a theatre endowed by the State. National Trust a trust for the preservation of places of historic interest or natural beauty in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, supported by endowment and private subscription; National Trust for Scotland, a similar body in Scotland.
b. noun.
A representative of a nation. Only in M17.
A supporter of national as opp. to party interests. rare. Only in M18.
(Usu. National.) A member or supporter of a nationalist political party or group; a member of a National Government or National Party. L18.
In full Grand National. A steeplechase run annually at Aintree, Liverpool, in the first week of the flat-racing season. M19.
A citizen or subject of a (usu. specified) State. L19.
Geographical Magazine Citizens of the EC follow one channel while non-EC nationals follow another.
A national as opp. to a local newspaper, competition, etc. Usu. in pl. M20.
nationally adverb in a national manner; as a nation; with regard to the nation as a whole: M17.
nationalness noun (rare) L17.