ethnic group

noun

plural ethnic groups

: one of the many large groups of people who share a particular identity according to common ancestry, culture, nationality, language, and/or religion

On average, Asian Americans have a high rate of college graduation, yet educational gaps within ethnic groups are concealed by the broad Asian American label. Asian ethnic groups, such as Laotian and Cambodian Americans, have a lower college graduation rate than the national average.

—Jin X. Goh et al.

Afrikaners are a South African ethnic group descended primarily from Dutch and other European settlers, and are a minority in post-apartheid South Africa.

—Taryn Simon

Latinos are currently the single largest minority group in the United States, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, though the very notion that Latinos make up a single ethnic group obscures the reality. … the term "Latino" pertains to a diverse group of nationalities and cultures and, as it might become increasingly clear, more than one or even two political viewpoints.

—Karen Sue Smith

Word History

First Known Use

1868, in the meaning defined above