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nationality

noun

Simple meaning

A people sharing a common origin, culture and/or language, and possibly constituting a nation-state.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

nashuhnaluhtee

Say the bold part a little louder.

US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

næʃəˈnæləti

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

noun

  1. People having common origins or traditions and often comprising a nation

    “Immigrants of the same nationality often seek each other out.”

  2. National origin or identity; legal membership of a particular nation or state, by origin, birth, naturalization, ownership, allegiance or otherwise.

  3. A people sharing a common origin, culture and/or language, and possibly constituting a nation-state.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
B2 · Upper Intermediate (estimated)
Frequency
Moderately Common
Formality
Technical

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: People having common origins or traditions and often comprising a nation

Used this way, nationality is a common word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Heard in a sentence
“Immigrants of the same nationality often seek each other out.”
Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Common
Connotation
Matter-of-fact
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

More ways to use nationality

  • “Immigrants of the same nationality often seek each other out.”noun

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

National / sharing

nationality actbritish nationalityamerican nationality

Other combinations

nationality lawnationality policynationality question

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Word family

Words built from the same root.

  • nationalistnounPerson or profession

    One who loves and defends his or her country.

  • nationalismnounDerived noun

    Love of country and willingness to sacrifice for it.

  • nationallyadverbDerived adverb

    With regard to a nation taken as a whole.

Related words

Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.

  • national flagnounRelated term

    An emblem flown as a symbol of nationality.

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.