ethnic

B2 Topic:Culture & History

US /ˈɛθ.nɪk/ See IPA manual

Freq #13422

Meanings

1

adj
Relating to a group of people who share the same race, culture, language, or national background.

The city is home to many different ethnic communities.
2

adj
Typical of the culture of a particular nation or minority group, especially in food, music, or clothing.

They went out for ethnic food at a Thai restaurant.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · relating to a group of... cultural ethnical

Word family

Forms ethnics

Derived forms antiethnicbiethniccoethnicethnicismethnicistethnicisticethnicizationethnicizeethnickygeoethnichomoethnicinterethnic

Related forms ethnicalethnicallyethnicityethnocentricethnoculturalethnographyethnologenyethnology

Etymology

From Middle English ethnik, from Latin ethnicus ("pagan", "heathen"), from Ancient Greek ἐθνικός (ethnikós, “of or for a nation, heathen”), from ἔθνος (éthnos, “a company", later "a people or nation, heathens”). By surface analysis, ethno- + -ic.

*dʰeh₁- Proto-Indo-European ethnik Middle English ethnicus Latin ἐθνικός Ancient Greek

View etymology graph ->

External links

# ethnic

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B2
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** /ˈɛθ.nɪk/
**Frequency rank:** 13422

## Meanings
1. Relating to a group of people who share the same race, culture, language, or national background.
2. Typical of the culture of a particular nation or minority group, especially in food, music, or clothing.

## Examples
- The city is home to many different ethnic communities.
- They went out for ethnic food at a Thai restaurant.

## Derived Forms
- antiethnic
- biethnic
- coethnic
- ethnicism
- ethnicist
- ethnicistic
- ethnicization
- ethnicize
- ethnicky
- geoethnic
- homoethnic
- interethnic

## Related Forms
- ethnical
- ethnically
- ethnicity
- ethnocentric
- ethnocultural
- ethnography
- ethnologeny
- ethnology

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: *dʰeh₁-
- Root: ethnik
- Root: ethnicus
- Root: ἐθνικός

## Etymology
From Middle English ethnik, from Latin ethnicus ("pagan", "heathen"), from Ancient Greek ἐθνικός (ethnikós, “of or for a nation, heathen”), from ἔθνος (éthnos, “a company", later "a people or nation, heathens”). By surface analysis, ethno- + -ic.

## AI Etymology
Ethnic comes from Middle English ethnik, from Latin ethnicus ("pagan", "heathen"), from Ancient Greek ἐθνικός (ethnikós, “of or for a nation, heathen”), from ἔθνος (éthnos, “a company", later "a people or nation, heathens”). By surface analysis, ethno- + -ic. In current use, the main senses are “Relating to a group of people who share the same race, culture, language, or national background” and “Typical of the culture of a particular nation or minority group, especially in food, music, or clothing”.

## Topics
- Culture & History

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ethnic

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