nationality

English

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˌnæ.ʃəˈnæ.lɪ.ti/, /ˌnæʃ.ˈnæ.lɪ.ti/, /-ˈnæ.lə.ti/, /-ˈnæl.ti/
Audio (US) (file)
Hyphenation: na‧tion‧al‧i‧ty, na‧tion‧al‧ity

Noun

nationality (plural nationalities)

(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; Nikki R. Keddie, transl., An Islamic Response to Imperialism‎, University of California Press, LCCN 68-13224, 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.
(now rare) Nationalism or patriotism. [from 18th c.]
- 1791, James Boswell, Life of Johnson, Oxford 2008, p. 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.’
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.
A people sharing a common origin, culture and/or language, and possibly constituting a nation-state. [from 19th c.]
(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,

Related terms

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

Translations

membership of a nation or state

Afrikaans: nasionaliteit
Arabic: جِنْسِيَّة‎ f (jinsiyya)
Armenian: ազգություն (hy) (azgutʿyun), քաղաքացիություն (hy) (kʿałakʿacʿiutʿyun) (citizenship)
Belarusian: нацыяна́льнасць (be) f (nacyjanálʹnascʹ), грамадзя́нства n (hramadzjánstva) (citizenship)
Bulgarian: национа́лност (bg) f (nacionálnost), гражда́нство n (graždánstvo) (citizenship)
Burmese: အမျိုးသား (my) (a.myui:sa:)
Catalan: nacionalitat f
Chinese:
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
Faroese: tjóðskapur m
Finnish: kansallisuus (fi)
French: nationalité (fr) f
Galician: nacionalidade (gl) f
German: Nationalität (de)
Greek: εθνικότητα (el) f (ethnikótita)
Haitian Creole: nasyonalite
Hindi: राष्ट्रीयता (hi) f (rāṣṭrīytā), कौमियत (hi) f (kaumiyat)
Hungarian: nemzetiség (hu) (of a nation), állampolgárság (hu) (of a state)
Icelandic: þjóðerni (is) n
Irish: náisiúntacht f
Italian: nazionalità (it) f
Japanese: 国籍 (ja) (こくせき, kokuseki)
Khmer: សញ្ជាតិ (km) (sanh chiet)
Korean: 국적(國籍) (ko) (gukjeok)
Lao: ສັນຊາດ (lo) (san sāt)
Luxembourgish: Nationalitéit
Macedonian: националност f (nacionalnost)
Norman: nâtionalité f
Norwegian: nasjonalitet (no) m
Persian: ملیت‎ (fa) (melliyyat)
Polish: narodowość (pl) f (ethnicity), obywatelstwo (pl) n (citizenship)
Portuguese: nacionalidade (pt) f
Romani: themutnipen m
Romanian: naționalitate (ro) f
Russian: национа́льность (ru) f (nacionálʹnostʹ), наро́дность (ru) f (naródnostʹ), гражда́нство (ru) n (graždánstvo) (citizenship)
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: национа́лно̄ст f
Roman: nacionálnōst (sh) f
Slovak: národnosť f, občianstvo n (citizenship)
Slovene: državljanstvo n
Spanish: nacionalidad (es) f
Swahili: uraya (sw), utaifa (sw)
Swedish: nationalitet (sv) c
Tagalog: katauhambansa
Thai: สัญชาติ (th) (sǎn-châat)
Ukrainian: наро́дність f (naródnistʹ), громадя́нство n (hromadjánstvo) (citizenship)
Urdu: قَومِیَّت‎ f (qaumiyyat)
Vietnamese: quốc tịch (vi)

national character or identity

Arabic: جِنْسِيَّة‎ f (jinsiyya)
Armenian: ազգություն (hy) (azgutʿyun)
Burmese: လူမျိုး (my) (lu-myui:)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 国籍 (zh) (guójí)
Czech: národní (cs) charakter (cs) m
Dutch: nationaliteit (nl) f, volksaard (nl)
Finnish: kansallisuus (fi)
Greek: ιθαγένεια (el) f (ithagéneia), εθνικότητα (el) f (ethnikótita)
Hungarian: nemzetiség (hu)
Portuguese: nacionalidade (pt) f
Russian: национа́льность (ru) f (nacionálʹnostʹ)
Swahili: uraya (sw), utaifa (sw)
Ukrainian: націона́льність (uk) f (nacionálʹnistʹ)

people belonging to a nation or state

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)
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: قَومِیَّت‎ f (qaumiyyat)

political existence as a national entity

Bulgarian: гражданство n (graždanstvo)
Finnish: kansallinen olemassaolo
Hungarian: nemzetiség (hu)
Swahili: uraya (sw)
Ukrainian: націона́льність (uk) f (nacionálʹnistʹ), незале́жність (uk) f (nezaléžnistʹ), самості́йність f (samostíjnistʹ), автоно́мія (uk) f (avtonómija)

nationalism — see nationalism

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
Interlingua: ^{(please verify)} nationalitate
Telugu: ^{(please verify)} జాతీయత (jātīyata)