Ethnic Once Meant Heathen
Ethnic relates to a people or culture. The Greek word for a nation became a term for non-believers before returning to its original sense.
Ethnic relates to a people sharing a common culture or descent. The word took a long detour: Greek *ethnos* meant a nation, but early Christian writers used it for the gentiles, so English *ethnic* meant heathen for several centuries. The anthropological sense was restored in the nineteenth century, and the religious one faded away.
- Relating to a people or culture. *Ethnic identity.*
- Of a cultural minority. *Ethnic cuisine.*
- Ethnicity — cultural group membership. *Reported ethnicity.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Adjective | ethnic | Ethnic groups. |
| Noun | ethnicity | Mixed ethnicity. |
| Field | ethnography | Ethnographic research. |
| Field | ethnology | Comparative ethnology. |
| Related | nation | A nation state. |
How it is used in a sentence
- Ethnicity and nationality are different.One is cultural, the other legal.
- Ethnography studies cultures from within.Anthropology.
- Ethnic once meant heathen.A now obsolete sense.
Related distinctions
- Ethnicity — shared culture, language or descent
- Nationality — legal membership of a state
- Race — a social category based on perceived physical traits
- Ethnography — the descriptive study of a culture
- Ethnocentrism — judging other cultures by one's own standards
From Late Latin *ethnicus*, heathen, from Greek *ethnikos*, national, from *ethnos*, a people. The modern sense revived in the 1850s.
Ethnicity or nationality?
Nationality is legal membership of a state. Ethnicity is cultural identification, which can cross national borders.
Why did ethnic mean heathen?
Because Greek-speaking Christian writers used *ethnos* for the nations outside their faith, and English took that sense from Latin.