ethnic
/ˈɛθ.nɪk/
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: 4.33 in modern English
11
Scrabble Score
6
Letters
2
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
adj
Of or relating to a group of people having common racial, ancestral, national, religious or cultural origins.
adj
Characteristic of a foreign or a minority group's culture.
adj
Representative of a folk or traditional mode of expression.
noun
The demonym of an Ancient Greek city.
Example Sentences
- "The violence began when Serbian troops went into Croatia ostensibly to aid armed ethnic Serbians trying to create their own autonomous states there."
- "Studies also show that absentee ballots cast by voters who are younger or from racial and ethnic minority groups are rejected at higher rates than other absentee ballots."
- "I like to eat ethnic food"
- "Indeed, such ethnic music festivals were probably common throughout the country"
- "contemporary artists are victims of the dichotomization of fine art and folk or ethnic art, where the latter must evince standardized techniques of simplicity, naivete, naturalism, and exoticism."
- "popular music is usually positioned between classical music on the one hand and folk or ethnic music on the other."
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *swé Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁- Proto-Indo-European *swe-dʰh₁- Proto-Hellenic *séswōtʰa Ancient Greek ἔθω (éthō) Proto-Indo-European *-nós Ancient Greek -νος (-nos) ? Ancient Greek ἔθνος (éthnos) Proto-Indo-European *-kos Proto-Hellenic *-kos Ancient Greek -κός (-kós) Ancient Greek -ῐκός (-ĭkós) Ancient Greek ἐθνικός (ethnikós)bor. Latin ethnicusbor. Middle English ethnik English ethnic 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.
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: *dʰeh₁-, ethnik, ethnicus, ἐθνικός
Usage
Inflected Forms
more ethnic (comparative)
most ethnic (superlative)
ethnick (alternative, obsolete)
ethnics (plural)