ethnicity

noun

eth·​nic·​i·​ty eth-ˈni-sə-tē 

plural ethnicities

1

: ethnic quality or affiliation

aspects of ethnicity

2

: a particular ethnic affiliation or group

students of diverse ethnicities

Synonyms of ethnicity

• nationality
• nation

Examples of ethnicity in a Sentence

a university with a student body of diverse ethnicities

Recent Examples on the Web

For example, discussing voter turnout — analyzing voter characteristics such as age, family income and race/ethnicity — can help develop an understanding of statistics and data visualization. — Ismar Volić, Washington Post, 8 Nov. 2026

Except the doctor made a mistake, meaning that Nakano is actually Korean, and Ji-hyun — who’s also faced prejudice for her ethnicity while living in Japan — is actually Japanese. — Katie Rife, IndieWire, 3 Nov. 2026

Her ethnicity is listed by the MNPD as White/Caucasian/Latino/Native American. — Sarah Dahlberg, NBC news, 3 Nov. 2026

His comments defaming minority races, ethnicities and religions continued as did the number of Republicans turning against him. — Rachel Royster, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 2 Nov. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1920, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for ethnicity

• basicity
• chronicity
• complicity
• cyclicity
• duplicity
• facticity
• felicity
• helicity
• plasticity
• publicity
• rusticity
• simplicity