nationality

English

Etymology

From national +‎ -ity, perhaps after French nationalité; ultimately from Latin nātio (“nation, people”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌnæʃ.əˈnæl.ɪ.ti/, /ˌnæʃ.ˈnæl.ɪ.ti/, /-ˈnæl.ə.ti/, /-ˈnæl.ti/

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• Hyphenation: na‧tion‧al‧i‧ty, na‧tion‧al‧ity

Noun

nationality (plural nationalities)

1. (now rare) National, i.e. ethnic and/or cultural, character or identity. [from 17th c.]
   • 1968, Sayyid Jamāl ad-Dīn, “Answer of Jamāl ad-Dīn to Renan”, in Nikki R. Keddie, translated by Nikki R. Keddie, An Islamic Response to Imperialism‎^[1], University of California Press, →LCCN, page 185:

     […] permit me to say that the Harranians were Arabs and that the Arabs in occupying Spain and Andalusia did not lose their nationality; they remained Arabs. […] The fact that they preserved their former religion, Sabaeanism, does not mean they should be considered foreign to the Arab nationality.

2. (now rare) Nationalism or patriotism. [from 18th c.]
   • 1791, James Boswell, Life of Johnson, Oxford, published 2008, page 599:

     ‘You are, to be sure, wonderfully free from that nationality: but so it happens, that you employ the only Scotch shoe-black in London.’

3. National origin or identity; legal membership of a particular nation or state, by origin, birth, naturalization, ownership, allegiance or otherwise. [from 18th c.]

   By living in the country for five years, you are entitled to get nationality.

   Stefi was born in Spain to a Brazilian father and a Chilean mother, so is eligible for three nationalities.

   Please include your nationality on the form.

4. A people sharing a common origin, culture and/or language, and possibly constituting a nation-state. [from 19th c.]
5. (obsolete) Political existence, independence or unity as a national entity. [19th c.]

Synonyms

• (membership of a nation or state): affiliation, allegiance, ancestry, citizenship, descent, enfranchisement, ethnicity, national status, naturalization, origin, parentage, race, residence, status
• (national character or identity): ancestry, color, colour, ethnicity, identity, origin
• (a people): clan, confederation, cultural group, culture, denomination, ethnic group, ethnicity, faith, group, nation, people, persuasion, race, sect, tribe
• (political existence as a national entity): autarchy, autonomy, freedom, independence, liberty, nationhood, self-determination, self-government, self-rule, separation, sovereignty
• (nationalism): nationalism, patriotic sentiment, patriotism,

Derived terms

• double nationality
• dual nationality
• nationality sign

 

Related terms

• nation, national, nationalise, nationalism, nationalist, nationalistic, nationalize
• nationhood
• nation-state
• nationwide

Translations

national character or identity

• Arabic: جِنْسِيَّة f (jinsiyya)
• Armenian: ազգություն (hy) (azgutʿyun)
• Belarusian: нацыяна́льнасць (be) f (nacyjanálʹnascʹ), наро́днасць (be) f (naródnascʹ)
• Burmese: လူမျိုး (my) (lu-myui:)
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 國籍／国籍 (gwok³ zik⁶)

  Hokkien: 國籍／国籍 (zh-min-nan) (kok-che̍k)

  Mandarin: 國籍／国籍 (zh) (guójí)

• Czech: národní (cs) charakter (cs) m
• Dutch: nationaliteit (nl) f, volksaard (nl) f
• Finnish: kansallisuus (fi)
• Greek: ιθαγένεια (el) f (ithagéneia), εθνικότητα (el) f (ethnikótita)
• Hungarian: nemzetiség (hu)
• Indonesian: nasionalisme (id)
• Portuguese: nacionalidade (pt) f
• Russian: национа́льность (ru) f (nacionálʹnostʹ), наро́дность (ru) f (naródnostʹ)
• Swahili: uraya (sw), utaifa (sw)
• Ukrainian: націона́льність (uk) f (nacionálʹnistʹ), наро́дність f (naródnistʹ)

nationalism — see nationalism

membership of a nation or state

• Afrikaans: nasionaliteit
• Albanian: kombësi (sq) f
• Amharic: ዜግነት (zegnät)
• Arabic: جِنْسِيَّة f (jinsiyya)
• Armenian: ազգություն (hy) (azgutʿyun), քաղաքացիություն (hy) (kʿaġakʿacʿiutʿyun) (citizenship)
• Azerbaijani: milliyyət
• Bashkir: милләт (millət)
• Belarusian: нацыяна́льнасць (be) f (nacyjanálʹnascʹ), наро́днасць (be) f (naródnascʹ), грамадзя́нства n (hramadzjánstva) (citizenship)
• Bengali: জাতীয়তা (bn) (jatiẏota)
• Bulgarian: национа́лност (bg) f (nacionálnost), гра́жданство n (gráždanstvo) (citizenship)
• Burmese: အမျိုးသား (my) (a.myui:sa:)
• Catalan: nacionalitat f
• Chechen: къам (qʼam)
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 國籍／国籍 (gwok³ zik⁶)

  Hokkien: 國籍／国籍 (zh-min-nan) (kok-che̍k)

  Mandarin: 國籍／国籍 (zh) (guójí)

• Czech: národnost (cs) f (ethnicity), občanství (cs) n (citizenship)
• Danish: nationalitet (da) c
• Dutch: nationaliteit (nl) f, staatsburgerschap (nl) n (citizenship)
• Estonian: rahvuslikkus, rahvus
• Faroese: tjóðskapur m
• Finnish: kansalaisuus (fi)
• French: nationalité (fr) f
• Friulian: nazionalitât f
• Galician: nacionalidade (gl) f
• Georgian: ეროვნება (erovneba), მოქალაქეობა (mokalakeoba) (citizenship)
• German: Nationalität (de) f
• Greek: εθνικότητα (el) f (ethnikótita)
• Haitian Creole: nasyonalite
• Hebrew: please add this translation if you can
• Hindi: राष्ट्रीयता (hi) f (rāṣṭrīytā), क़ौमियत f (qaumiyat), कौमियत (hi) f (kaumiyat), जातीयता (hi) f (jātīytā)
• Hungarian: nemzetiség (hu) (of a nation), állampolgárság (hu) (of a state)
• Icelandic: þjóðerni (is) n
• Indonesian: bangsa (id), kebangsaan (id)
• Irish: náisiúntacht f
• Italian: nazionalità (it) f
• Japanese: 国籍 (ja) (こくせき, kokuseki)
• Kazakh: ұлт (kk) (ūlt)
• Khmer: សញ្ជាតិ (km) (sañciət)
• Korean: 국적(國籍) (ko) (gukjeok)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: نەتەوایەتی (netewayetî)

  Northern Kurdish: miliyet (ku)

• Kyrgyz: улут (ky) (ulut)
• Lao: ສັນຊາດ (lo) (san sāt)
• Latvian: tautība f
• Lithuanian: tautybė f
• Luxembourgish: Nationalitéit
• Macedonian: национа́лност f (nacionálnost)
• Malay: kerakyatan (ms), kewarganegaraan (ms)
• Maltese: nazzjonalità f
• Mongolian:

  Cyrillic: үндэстэн (mn) (ündesten), яс үндэс (jas ündes)

• Norman: nâtionalité f
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: nasjonalitet (no) m

  Nynorsk: nasjonalitet m

• Ottoman Turkish: ملیت (milliyyet)
• Pashto: مليت m (melyat)
• Persian:

  Dari: مِلِّیَت (fa) (milliyat), قَوْمِیَّت (fa) (qawmiyyat)

  Iranian Persian: مِلِّیَت (fa) (melliyat), قُوْمِیَّت (fa) (ğowmiyyat)

• Polish: narodowość (pl) f (ethnicity), obywatelstwo (pl) n (citizenship)
• Portuguese: nacionalidade (pt) f
• Romani: themutnipen m
• Romanian: naționalitate (ro) f

  Cyrillic: националитате f (naționalitate)

• Russian: национа́льность (ru) f (nacionálʹnostʹ), наро́дность (ru) f (naródnostʹ), гражда́нство (ru) n (graždánstvo) (citizenship)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: национа́лно̄ст f

  Roman: nacionálnōst (sh) f

• Sinhalese: ජාතිකත්වය (jātikatwaya)
• Slovak: národnosť f, občianstvo n (citizenship)
• Slovene: državljanstvo n
• Spanish: nacionalidad (es) f
• Swahili: uraya (sw), utaifa (sw)
• Swedish: nationalitet (sv) c
• Tagalog: katauhambansa, kabansaan
• Tajik: миллият (milliyat), миллачӣ (millačī), қавмият (qavmiyat)
• Tatar: милләт (tt) (millät)
• Thai: สัญชาติ (th) (sǎn-châat)
• Tigrinya: ዜግነት (zegnät)
• Turkish: milliyet (tr)
• Turkmen: millet
• Ukrainian: націона́льність (uk) f (nacionálʹnistʹ), наро́дність f (naródnistʹ), громадя́нство n (hromadjánstvo) (citizenship)
• Urdu: قَومِیَت f (qaumiyat), مِلِّیَت f (milliyat)
• Uyghur: مىللەت (millet)
• Uzbek: millat (uz)
• Vietnamese: quốc tịch (vi) (國籍)
• Yiddish: נאַציאָנאַליטעט (natsyonalitet)

people belonging to a nation or state — see also nation

• Czech: národnost (cs) f (to an ethnicity), občané (cs) m pl, obyvatelé (cs) m pl (to a state)
• Dutch: nationaliteit (nl) f, natie (nl), volk (nl)
• Finnish: kansa (fi), kansakunta (fi)
• Hungarian: nemzet (hu)
• Indonesian: warga negara (id), kewarganegaraan (id)
• Russian: наро́д (ru) m (naród), на́ция (ru) f (nácija), э́тнос (ru) m (étnos), пле́мя (ru) n (plémja)
• Swahili: uraya (sw), utaifa (sw)
• Ukrainian: наро́д (uk) m (naród), на́ція (uk) f (nácija), люд m (ljud), е́тнос m (étnos), пле́м'я n (plémʺja)
• Urdu: قَومِیَت f (qaumiyat)

political existence as a national entity — see also nationhood

• Bulgarian: гра́жданство n (gráždanstvo)
• Finnish: kansallinen olemassaolo, itsenäisyys (fi)
• Hungarian: nemzetiség (hu)
• Swahili: uraya (sw)
• Ukrainian: націона́льність (uk) f (nacionálʹnistʹ), незале́жність (uk) f (nezaléžnistʹ), самості́йність f (samostíjnistʹ), автоно́мія (uk) f (avtonómija)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked‌: "citizenship"

• Indonesian: ^{(please verify)} kewarganegaraan (id)
• Interlingua: ^{(please verify)} nationalitate
• Telugu: ^{(please verify)} జాతీయత (jātīyata)

See also

• naturalize