Definition of "nation" in 英语

noun

1. (collective) A historically constituted, stable community of people, formed based on a common language, territory, economic life, ethnicity and/or psychological make-up manifested in a common culture.

   • The Roma are a nation without a country.
   • pre-Columbian nations

2. (international law, metonymic) A sovereign state; (loosely, metonymic, proscribed) a country.

   • Though legally single nations, many states comprise several distinct cultural or ethnic groups.

3. (chiefly historical) An association of students based on the birthplace or ethnicity of its members.

   • Once widespread across Europe in medieval times, nations are now largely restricted to the ancient universities of Sweden and Finland.

4. (obsolete) A great number; a great deal.

5. In North America, an Indigenous people and their federally recognized territory.

   • The Choctaw Nation is the third-largest federally recognized tribe in the United States and the second-largest Indian reservation in area.

noun

1. (rare) Damnation.

   • O nation!.. if I were a man, […]

adverb

1. (rare, dialectal) Extremely, very.

adjective

1. (rare, dialectal) An intensifier; extreme, great.