nation

1 a body of people composed of one or more nationalities usually with its own territory and government the American people became one nation when they adopted the Constitution in 1789 Synonyms commonwealth, country, land, sovereignty (also sovranty), state Related Words city-state, microstate, ministate, nation-state; domain, dominion, empire, kingdom, realm, republic; duchy, dukedom, emirate, principality, seigniory (or seignory), sultanate; democracy, dictatorship, monarchy, monocracy, oligarchy, sovereign (also sovran), theocracy; client state, colony, condominium, dependency, mandate, province, settlement, soil, trust territory; fatherland, homeland, motherland; great power, power, sea power, superpower, world power; welfare state

2 a people having a common language, culture, and body of traditions an international organization dedicated to upholding the basic human rights of people from all nations Synonyms ethnicity, nationality, raceRelated Words minority; clan, family, folk, house, kindred, tribe