ethnic
- ethnic
ethnic (
n.) late 14c., Scottish, "
heathen, pagan," and having that sense first in English; as an
adj. from late 15c. from
L. ethnicus,
Gk. ethnikos, from
ethnos "
band of people living together, nation, people,"
prop. “people of one's own kind,” from
PIE *swedh-no-, suffixed form of
root *s(w)e- (see
IDIOM (
Cf. idiom)). In Septuagint,
Gk. ta ethne translates
Heb. goyim,
pl. of
goy "
nation," especially of non-Israelites, hence "
Gentile nation." Sense of "
peculiar to a race or nation" is attested from 1851, a return to the word's original meaning; that of "
different cultural groups" is 1935; and that of "
racial, cultural or national minority group" is
Amer.Eng. 1945;
ethnic cleansing is attested from 1991.
Although the term 'ethnic cleansing' has come into English usage only recently, its verbal correlates in Czech, French, German, and Polish go back much further. [Jerry Z. Muller, "Us and Them: The Enduring Power of Ethnic Nationalism," Foreign Affairs, March/April 2008]
Etymology dictionary.
2014.
:
Look at other dictionaries:
ethnic — is now principally used to denote a section of a community having distinct racial, cultural, religious, or linguistic characteristics not shared by the rest of the community. Ethnic is typically used to describe clothing, dance, music, and other… … Modern English usage
ethnic — UK US /ˈeθnɪk/ adjective ► relating to a race or national group of people: »The factory s workforce reflects the ethnic mix of the local population. ► from a different race, or interesting because characteristic of an ethnic group which is very… … Financial and business terms
Ethnic — Eth nic, Ethnical Eth nic*al, a. [L. ethnicus, Gr. ?, fr. ? nation, ? ? the nations, heathens, gentiles: cf. F. ethnique.] 1. Belonging to races or nations; based on distinctions of race; ethnological. [1913 Webster] 2. Pertaining to the gentiles … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English
Ethnic — Eth nic . 1. A heathen; a pagan. [Obs.] [1913 Webster] No better reported than impure ethnic and lay dogs. Milton. [1913 Webster] 2. a member of an ethnic group. [PJC] … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English
ethnic — ► ADJECTIVE 1) relating to a group of people having a common national or cultural tradition. 2) referring to origin by birth rather than by present nationality: ethnic Albanians. 3) relating to a non Western cultural tradition: ethnic music.… … English terms dictionary
ethnic — [eth′nik] adj. [ME ethnik < LL(Ec) ethnicus, pagan < Gr ethnikos, national (in LGr(Ec), gentile, heathen) < ethnos, nation, people, ta ethnē, nations (in LXX, non Jews, in N.T., gentile Christians): akin to ēthos: see ETHICAL] 1. Now… … English World dictionary
ethnic — [adj] racial, cultural indigenous, national, native, traditional, tribal; concept 549 … New thesaurus
ethnic — 01. There is often prejudice against minority [ethnic] groups. 02. The former Yugoslavia is having a lot of problems with conflicts between the different [ethnic] groups in the region. 03. I believe that Chinese speakers are the second largest… … Grammatical examples in English
ethnic — eth|nic1 [ eθnık ] adjective ** 1. ) relating to a group of people who have the same culture and traditions: The country s population consists of three main ethnic groups. a ) used about fighting between people from different ethnic groups living … Usage of the words and phrases in modern English
ethnic — eth|nic1 W3 [ˈeθnık] adj [Date: 1300 1400; : Late Latin; Origin: ethnicus, from Greek ethnikos, from ethnos nation, people ] 1.) relating to a particular race, nation, or tribe and their customs and traditions ▪ The school teaches pupils from… … Dictionary of contemporary English
