Meanings
national1
adjectivenational (comparative more national, superlative most national)
comparative more national · superlative most national · alternative abbreviation nat'l
- Belonging to or characteristic of a specific nation or country, as opposed to others.First known use 17th c.
this is their national dish · our national tendency to laugh at the French
- archaicNationalistic; patriotic.First known use 17th c.
‘Come, come, don't deny it: they are really national. Why, now, the Adams are as liberal-minded men as any in the world: but, I don't know how it is, all their workmen are Scotch.’
1791, James Boswell, Life of Johnson, Oxford, published 2008, page 599
nounnational (plural nationals)
plural nationals · alternative abbreviation nat'l
- plural normallyA tournament in which participants from all over the nation compete.
After winning the regional tournament, the team advanced to the nationals.
- plural normallyjournalismA national newspaper.
I had a crush on Bardot / Fell in love with Monroe / Read about 'em in the nationals / All the juicy little scandals
1978, “Blondes (Have More Fun)”, performed by Rod Stewart - lawSomebody born under the authority of a given country.
National2
nounNational (plural Nationals)
plural Nationals
- AustralianNew ZealandgovernmentA member of the National Party
- New ZealandabbreviationclippinggovernmentClipping of New Zealand National Party
Synonyms & antonyms
Similar
adjectivelimited to or in the interests of a particular nation
Similar
Opposite
adjectiveconcerned with or applicable to or belonging to an entire nation or country
Similar
Opposite
adjectiveowned or maintained for the public by the national government
Similar
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Middle Frenchnational
- Englishnational
From Middle French national, corresponding to nation + -al.
More words from Middle French
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans nasionaal
- nasionaalpertaining to a nation or country; the state
Ancient Greek ἐθνικός
- ἐθνικός (ethnikós)pertaining to a nation or country; the state
Arabic وَطَنِيّ, قَوْمِيّ
- وَطَنِيّ (waṭaniyy)pertaining to a nation or country; the state
- قَوْمِيّ (qawmiyy)pertaining to a nation or country; the state
Basque herriko, nazional
- herrikopertaining to a nation or country; the state
- nazionalpertaining to a nation or country; the state
Bengali জাতীয়
- জাতীয় (jatiẏo)pertaining to a nation or country; the state
Bulgarian национа́лен, наро́ден
- национа́лен (nacionálen)pertaining to a nation or country; the state
- наро́ден (naróden)pertaining to a nation or country; the state
- държа́вен (dăržáven)pertaining to a nation or country; the state
- поданик (podanik)subject
Catalan nacional
- nacionalpertaining to a nation or country; the state
Chinese Mandarin 國家的 /国家的, 全國性 /全国性
- 國家的 /国家的 (guójiā de)pertaining to a nation or country; the state
- 全國性 /全国性 (quánguóxìng)pertaining to a nation or country; the state
- 國民的 /国民的 (guómín de)pertaining to a nation or country; the state
- 國立的 /国立的 (guólì de)pertaining to a nation or country; the state
Czech národní, státní
- národnípertaining to a nation or country; the state
- státnípertaining to a nation or country; the state
Danish national
- nationalpertaining to a nation or country; the state
Dutch nationaal, landelijk
- nationaalpertaining to a nation or country; the state
- landelijkpertaining to a nation or country; the state
- rijks-pertaining to a nation or country; the state
Esperanto nacia
- naciapertaining to a nation or country; the state
Estonian kodanik, rahvuslik
- kodanikpertaining to a nation or country; the state
- rahvuslikpertaining to a nation or country; the state
- riiklikpertaining to a nation or country; the state
Finnish kansallinen, kansallis-
- kansallinenpertaining to a nation or country; the state
- kansallis-pertaining to a nation or country; the state
- kansan-pertaining to a nation or country; the state
- valtakunnan-pertaining to a nation or country; the state
- kansalainensubject
- kansallinen kilpailutournament
French national, national
- nationalpertaining to a nation or country; the state
- nationalborn in a given country
- nationaleborn in a given country
German national, Staats-
- nationalpertaining to a nation or country; the state
- Staats-pertaining to a nation or country; the state
- Staatsangehörigersubject
- Staatsangehörigesubject
- Staatsbürgersubject
- Staatsbürgerinsubject
- Bürgersubject
- Bürgerinsubject
Greek εθνικός
- εθνικός (ethnikós)pertaining to a nation or country; the state
Hebrew לאומי \ לְאֻמִּי, אַרְצִי
- לאומי \ לְאֻמִּי (l'umí)pertaining to a nation or country; the state
- אַרְצִי (artsí)pertaining to a nation or country; the state
Hindi राष्ट्रीय, क़ौमी
- राष्ट्रीय (rāṣṭrīya)pertaining to a nation or country; the state
- क़ौमी (qaumī)pertaining to a nation or country; the state
- कौमी (kaumī)pertaining to a nation or country; the state
- मुल्की (mulkī)pertaining to a nation or country; the state
- राष्ट्रीय (rāṣṭrīya)subject
Hungarian nemzeti, országos
- nemzetipertaining to a nation or country; the state
- országospertaining to a nation or country; the state
- államipertaining to a nation or country; the state
Icelandic þjóðlegur
- þjóðlegurpertaining to a nation or country; the state
Indonesian nasional
- nasionalpertaining to a nation or country; the state
Irish náisiúnta, náisiúnach
- náisiúntapertaining to a nation or country; the state
- náisiúnachsubject
Italian nazionale, nazionale
- nazionalepertaining to a nation or country; the state
- nazionaleborn in a given country
Japanese 国家の, 国民の
- 国家の (kokka no)pertaining to a nation or country; the state
- 国民の (kokumin no)pertaining to a nation or country; the state
- 国立の (kokuritsu no)pertaining to a nation or country; the state
Korean 국가의, 국민의
- 국가의 (gukga-ui)pertaining to a nation or country; the state
- 국민의 (gungmin-ui)pertaining to a nation or country; the state
- 국립의 (gungnib-ui)pertaining to a nation or country; the state
Latin nātiōnālis, gentilicius
- nātiōnālispertaining to a nation or country; the state
- gentiliciussubject
- gentīliciasubject
- gentīliciumsubject
Latvian nacionāls
- nacionālspertaining to a nation or country; the state
Lithuanian nacionalinis
- nacionalinispertaining to a nation or country; the state
Malay nasional, bangsa
- nasionalpertaining to a nation or country; the state
- bangsapertaining to a nation or country; the state
- kebangsaanpertaining to a nation or country; the state
Norwegian Bokmål nasjonal
- nasjonalpertaining to a nation or country; the state
Polish narodowy, nacjonalny
- narodowypertaining to a nation or country; the state
- nacjonalnypertaining to a nation or country; the state
Portuguese nacional
- nacionalpertaining to a nation or country; the state
Punjabi ਰਾਸ਼ਟਰੀ
- ਰਾਸ਼ਟਰੀ (rāśṭarī)pertaining to a nation or country; the state
Romanian național
- naționalpertaining to a nation or country; the state
Russian национа́льный, наро́дный
- национа́льный (nacionálʹnyj)pertaining to a nation or country; the state
- наро́дный (naródnyj)pertaining to a nation or country; the state
- госуда́рственный (gosudárstvennyj)pertaining to a nation or country; the state
- гражданин (graždanin)subject
Scottish Gaelic nàiseanta
- nàiseantapertaining to a nation or country; the state
Slovak národný
- národnýpertaining to a nation or country; the state
Spanish nacional, patrio
- nacionalpertaining to a nation or country; the state
- patriopertaining to a nation or country; the state
- ciudadanosubject
Swedish nationell, medborgare
- nationellpertaining to a nation or country; the state
- medborgaresubject
Tagalog nasyonal, pambansa
- nasyonalpertaining to a nation or country; the state
- pambansapertaining to a nation or country; the state
Tamil தேசிய
- தேசிய (tēciya)pertaining to a nation or country; the state
Thai ประจำชาติ, ชาติ
- ประจำชาติ (bprà jam châat)pertaining to a nation or country; the state
- ชาติ (châat)pertaining to a nation or country; the state
Turkish millî, ulusal
- millîpertaining to a nation or country; the state
- ulusalpertaining to a nation or country; the state
- uluslukpertaining to a nation or country; the state
Ukrainian націона́льний, наро́дний
- націона́льний (nacionálʹnyj)pertaining to a nation or country; the state
- наро́дний (naródnyj)pertaining to a nation or country; the state
- держа́вний (deržávnyj)pertaining to a nation or country; the state
Urdu قَومِی, مُلْکی
- قَومِی (qaumī)pertaining to a nation or country; the state
- مُلْکی (mulkī)pertaining to a nation or country; the state
- مِلّی (millī)pertaining to a nation or country; the state
Vietnamese dân tộc, quốc gia
- dân tộcpertaining to a nation or country; the state
- quốc giapertaining to a nation or country; the state
Welsh cenedlaethol, nasiynol
- cenedlaetholpertaining to a nation or country; the state
- nasiynolpertaining to a nation or country; the state
- gwladolpertaining to a nation or country; the state
Yiddish נאַציאָנאַל
- נאַציאָנאַל (natsyonal)pertaining to a nation or country; the state
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with national
internationalrationalmultinationaltransnationalirrationalsupranationalsubnationalbinationalbirationalantirationalarationalintranationalnonnationalnon-rationalpassionalplurinationalsubrationalsupernationalsuperrationalsuprarationaltransrationalultranationalultrarationalunirational
All rhymes →Anagrams
Cite this entry
APA
national. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/national
MLA
“national.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/national. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “national,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/national.
Source: national on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.