ethnic

English[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

• ethnick (obsolete)

Etymology[edit]

From French ethnique, from Latin ethnicus ("pagan", "heathen"), from Ancient Greek ἐθνικός (ethnikós, “of or for a nation, heathen”), from ἔθνος (éthnos, “a company", later "a people or nation, heathens”).

Pronunciation[edit]

• IPA^(key): /ˈɛθ.nɪk/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Adjective[edit]

ethnic (comparative more ethnic, superlative most ethnic)

1. Of or relating to a group of people having common racial, ancestral, national, religious or cultural origins.

   There are many ethnic Indonesians in the Netherlands

2. Characteristic of a foreign, usually non-Western culture.

   I like to eat ethnic food

3. Representative of a folk or traditional mode of expression. quotations ▼
   • 2008. . Ronald D. Cohen.
   • 1990. . Vols 4-6.
   • 2012. . Michael Campbell.
   • 2012. . Kip Lornell.
4. (historical) Heathen, not Judeo-Christian-Muslim.

Synonyms[edit]

• (culturally foreign): exotic
• (heathen): pagan, gentile

Derived terms[edit]

Related terms[edit]

Translations[edit]

Noun[edit]

ethnic (plural ethnics)

1. An ethnic person, especially a foreigner or member of an immigrant community.
2. An ethnic minority. (Can we add an example for this sense?)
3. (archaic) A heathen, a pagan. quotations ▼
   • . . .
4. (in classical scholarship) the demonym of an Ancient Greek city quotations ▼
   • . Cohen. , 151.

Translations[edit]

Further reading[edit]

• ethnic in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• ethnic in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911
• "ethnic" in Raymond Williams, Keywords (revised), 1983, Fontana Press, page 119.

Anagrams[edit]

• techni-