Meanings
nounethnic group (plural ethnic groups)
plural ethnic groups
- A group of people who identify with one another, especially on the basis of ancestral, national, linguistic, cultural, historical or religious grounds.
Each ethnic group blames Yugoslavia's problems on another group, and they coddle their right to hate as if it were the primordial gift of fire.
1990 August, Kenneth C. Danforth, “Yugoslavia: A House Much Divided”, in National Geographic, volume 178, number 2, pages 103-106Synonyms: ethnie
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA group of people who identify with one another, especially on the basis of ancestral, national, linguistic, cultural, historical or religious grounds.
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More synonyms by meaning
nounpeople of the same race or nationality who share a distinctive culture
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Also see
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Translations
Afrikaans etniese groep
- etniese groepgroup of people who identify with one another on ancestral etc. grounds
Ancient Greek ἔθνος
- ἔθνος (éthnos)group of people who identify with one another on ancestral etc. grounds
Arabic مَجْمُوعَة إثْنِيَّة
- مَجْمُوعَة إثْنِيَّةgroup of people who identify with one another on ancestral etc. grounds
Bulgarian наро́дност
- наро́дност (naródnost)group of people who identify with one another on ancestral etc. grounds
Catalan grup ètnic
- grup ètnicgroup of people who identify with one another on ancestral etc. grounds
Chinese Mandarin 民族, 族群
- 民族 (mínzú)group of people who identify with one another on ancestral etc. grounds
- 族群 (zúqún)group of people who identify with one another on ancestral etc. grounds
Danish etnisk gruppe
- etnisk gruppegroup of people who identify with one another on ancestral etc. grounds
Esperanto etno
- etnogroup of people who identify with one another on ancestral etc. grounds
Finnish etninen ryhmä, etnisyys
- etninen ryhmägroup of people who identify with one another on ancestral etc. grounds
- etnisyysgroup of people who identify with one another on ancestral etc. grounds
- kansallisuusgroup of people who identify with one another on ancestral etc. grounds
French ethnie, groupe ethnique
- ethniegroup of people who identify with one another on ancestral etc. grounds
- groupe ethniquegroup of people who identify with one another on ancestral etc. grounds
German ethnische Gruppe, Ethnie
- ethnische Gruppegroup of people who identify with one another on ancestral etc. grounds
- Ethniegroup of people who identify with one another on ancestral etc. grounds
- Volksgruppegroup of people who identify with one another on ancestral etc. grounds
- Sippegroup of people who identify with one another on ancestral etc. grounds
Hungarian etnikum, népcsoport
- etnikumgroup of people who identify with one another on ancestral etc. grounds
- népcsoportgroup of people who identify with one another on ancestral etc. grounds
- etnikai csoportgroup of people who identify with one another on ancestral etc. grounds
Icelandic þjóðarbrot
- þjóðarbrotgroup of people who identify with one another on ancestral etc. grounds
Irish grúpa eitneach
- grúpa eitneachgroup of people who identify with one another on ancestral etc. grounds
Italian etnia
- etniagroup of people who identify with one another on ancestral etc. grounds
Japanese 民族
- 民族 (minzoku)group of people who identify with one another on ancestral etc. grounds
Korean 민족
- 민족 (minjok)group of people who identify with one another on ancestral etc. grounds
Latvian etniskā grupa, etnoss
- etniskā grupagroup of people who identify with one another on ancestral etc. grounds
- etnossgroup of people who identify with one another on ancestral etc. grounds
Norwegian Bokmål folkegruppe
- folkegruppegroup of people who identify with one another on ancestral etc. grounds
Persian قوم
- قوم (qowm)group of people who identify with one another on ancestral etc. grounds
Polish grupa etniczna
- grupa etnicznagroup of people who identify with one another on ancestral etc. grounds
Portuguese etnia, grupo étnico
- etniagroup of people who identify with one another on ancestral etc. grounds
- grupo étnicogroup of people who identify with one another on ancestral etc. grounds
Romanian grup etnic
- grup etnicgroup of people who identify with one another on ancestral etc. grounds
Russian этни́ческая гру́ппа, национа́льность
- этни́ческая гру́ппа (etníčeskaja grúppa)group of people who identify with one another on ancestral etc. grounds
- национа́льность (nacionálʹnostʹ)group of people who identify with one another on ancestral etc. grounds
- э́тнос (étnos)group of people who identify with one another on ancestral etc. grounds
Spanish grupo étnico, etnia
- grupo étnicogroup of people who identify with one another on ancestral etc. grounds
- etniagroup of people who identify with one another on ancestral etc. grounds
Swedish etnisk grupp
- etnisk gruppgroup of people who identify with one another on ancestral etc. grounds
Vietnamese dân tộc, sắc tộc
- dân tộcgroup of people who identify with one another on ancestral etc. grounds
- sắc tộcgroup of people who identify with one another on ancestral etc. grounds
- tộc ngườigroup of people who identify with one another on ancestral etc. grounds
Welsh grŵp ethnig
- grŵp ethniggroup of people who identify with one another on ancestral etc. grounds
Cite this entry
APA
ethnic group. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ethnic%20group
MLA
“ethnic group.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ethnic%20group. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “ethnic group,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ethnic%20group.
Source: ethnic group on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.