ethnic

adjective eth·nic \ ˈeth-nik \

|Updated on: 15 Aug 2018

Definition of ethnic

1 a : of or relating to large groups of people classed according to common racial, national, tribal, religious, linguistic, or cultural origin or background

ethnic minorities

ethnic enclaves

b : being a member of a specified ethnic group

an ethnic German

c : of, relating to, or characteristic of a minority ethnic group

ethnic neighborhoods

ethnic foods

2 : of or relating to the Gentiles or to nations not converted to Christianity : heathen, pagan

… ancient ethnic revels of a faith long since forsaken …
—Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

See ethnic defined for English-language learners

Examples of ethnic in a Sentence

The U.S. has a wide variety of ethnic groups made up of immigrants or their descendants.
children who were raised in a home where there was a strong ethnic consciousness

Recent Examples of ethnic from the Web

Croatia also has many supporters among Bosnia’s three main ethnic groups — Croats, Serbs and Muslim Bosniaks — that fought against each other during the country’s bloody 1992-95 war.

— Washington Post, "Mixed emotions in Balkans over Croatia’s World Cup success," 13 July 2018
Suu Kyi has previously called on all armed ethnic groups to sign the cease-fire.

— Fox News, "Myanmar opens peace conference with ethnic rebels," 11 July 2018
Suu Kyi has previously called on all armed ethnic groups to sign the cease-fire.

— The Christian Science Monitor, "Myanmar opens peace conference with ethnic rebel groups," 11 July 2018
The conflict has pitted Mr. Kiir’s Dinka ethnic group against Mr. Machar’s Nuer community, leaving more than 50,000 people dead and pushing millions to the brink of famine.

— nicholas bariyo, WSJ, "South Sudan’s Exiled Former Vice President Offered Power-Sharing Deal," 8 July 2018
Non-Hispanic whites are shrinking in population, while all other race and ethnic groups grew between July 1, 2016, and July 1, 2017.

— Fortune, "How U.S. Demographics Are Changing: America Got Less White, Older, and More Urban Last Year," 21 June 2018
More than a third of the 101 acting nominations for the 70th Primetime Emmy Awards went to ethnic minorities, according to an analysis by The Associated Press.

— lynn elber, chicagotribune.com, "Emmy diversity gets a boost from Ricky Martin, Issa Rae," 13 July 2018
Myanmar had been ruled since 1962 by successive military regimes that drove the country into political isolation, crippled the economy, oppressed ethnic minorities, and repeatedly put down popular uprisings with deadly force.

— timothy mclaughlin, WIRED, "How Facebook’s Rise Fueled Chaos and Confusion in Myanmar," 6 July 2018
As Adam Serwer wrote for The Atlantic on Monday, Donald Trump won the presidency by combining a superficial economic populism with appeals to resentment against religious and ethnic minorities.

— sarah jones, The New Republic, "Tuesday’s primaries were a good night for the populist left.," 27 June 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'ethnic.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of ethnic

Middle English, from Late Latin ethnicus, from Greek ethnikos national, gentile, from ethnos nation, people; akin to Greek ēthos custom — more at sib

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First Known Use: 1542

in the meaning defined at sense 2

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ethnic Synonyms

Other Anthropology Terms

ectomorph, ethnography, prehistory, yurt

ethnic

noun

Definition of ethnic

chiefly US

: a member of an ethnic group; especially : a member of a minority group who retains the customs, language, or social views of the group

See ethnic defined for English-language learners

See ethnic defined for kids

Recent Examples of ethnic from the Web

In the late 1960s, the mayor was wooing white ethnics.

— sam roberts, New York Times, "Mary Sansone, a Grass-Roots Political Godmother, Dies at 101," 15 May 2018
Researchers have said that facial recognition algorithms often fail to identify, or misidentify, people of certain racial or ethnics groups.

— jon schuppe /, NBC News, "Axon's police body cams could be getting an AI upgrade. Civil rights groups are worried.," 26 Apr. 2018
For instance, in 2016 ethnic Amharas based in the Wolkait district opposed a federal plan that reorganized their land and placed it within the boundaries of the Tigray Regional State.

— yohannes y. gedamu, Washington Post, "Ethiopia just pardoned political prisoners. Could that signal a shift to real democracy?," 9 Feb. 2018
Here is our first: A guide to 32 don't-miss food events in Cleveland in 2018, pizza parties and ethnics fests, paczki parties, maple sugar weekends and the return of the Fabulous Food Show.

— cleveland.com, "32 don't-miss Cleveland food events: 365 things to do in 2018," 10 Jan. 2018
The German-American Bund was founded in 1936 by pro-Nazi ethnic Germans living in the United States.

— jason daley, Smithsonian, "Footage Recalls the Night Madison Square Garden Filled With Nazis," 13 Oct. 2017
The group officials see as among the most vulnerable to Russian influence is the more than one million ethnic Germans who immigrated from the former Soviet Union.

— anton troianovski, WSJ, "Merkel’s Electoral Rivals Target Her Russia Policy," 13 Sep. 2017
This is a realistic assessment for many subgroups within the U.S. population—particularly those of lower economic status, minority ethnics, many women, the aged, and the unemployed—in earlier historical periods marked by high unemployment.

— ray pratt, Slate Magazine, "Paranoia Rises When We Feel Politically Powerless," 31 May 2017
The Fula people are a Muslim ethnic group thought to have roots in the Middle East and North Africa, who are now widely dispersed across West Africa.

— martha ross, The Mercury News, "Rachel Dolezal, who famously claimed to be a black woman, takes African name," 2 Mar. 2017

First Known Use of ethnic

1941

in the meaning defined above

See Words from the same year

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Other Sociology Terms

bourgeois, ethos, eugenics, exurb, incommunicado, intelligentsia, megalopolis, metrosexual, mores, subculture

ETHNIC Defined for English Language Learners

ethnic

adjective

Definition of ethnic for English Language Learners

: of or relating to races or large groups of people who have the same customs, religion, origin, etc.
: associated with or belonging to a particular race or group of people who have a culture that is different from the main culture of a country

ethnic

noun

Definition of ethnic for English Language Learners

: a person who belongs to a particular ethnic group

ETHNIC Defined for Kids

ethnic

adjective eth·nic \ ˈeth-nik \

Definition of ethnic for Students

: of or relating to groups of people with common characteristics and customs

ethnic food

—

ethnically

\-ni-kə-lē\ adverb

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ethnic

Definition of ethnic

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