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ethnogenesis

noun

Definition of ethnogenesis 

: the process by which a group of people becomes ethnically distinct : the formation and development of an ethnic group All this seems obvious enough, yet in reality it is largely unproven supposition, for historical records give hardly any information on the crucial questions of Rumanian ethnogenesis.— W. B. Lockwood, A Panorama of Indo-European Languages, 1972

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First Known Use of ethnogenesis

1862, in the meaning defined above

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