To save this word, you'll need to log in.
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
Keep scrolling for more
Comments on ethnogenesis
What made you want to look up ethnogenesis? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).
Test Your Vocabulary
Words for Summer: A Quiz
- Which of the following words means “of or relating to summer”?
Can you spell these 10 commonly misspelled words?
TAKE THE QUIZ
Test Your Knowledge - and learn some interesting things along the way.
TAKE THE QUIZLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridgedWords at Play
Ask the Editors
Word Games
- Words for Summer: A Quiz
Test your knowledge of words related to the season of longer days and vacations.
Take the quiz - A More Exception(al) Quiz
Which of these things doesn't belong?
Take the quiz - Spell It
Can you spell these 10 commonly misspelled words?
Take the quiz - Dictionary Devil
The dictionary has been scrambled—can you put it back together?
Play the game
Share ethnogenesis
Time Traveler for ethnogenesis
The first known use of ethnogenesis was in 1862
See more words from the same year