Meanings
nounethnic minority (plural ethnic minorities)
plural ethnic minorities
- A group of people who have a different ethnicity, religion, language or culture from that of the majority of people in the place where they live.
Dati launched a blistering attack on the prime minister, François Fillon, under whom she served as justice minister, accusing him of sexism, elitism, arrogance and hindering the political advancement of ethnic minorities.
2011 December 14, Angelique Chrisafis, “Rachida Dati accuses French PM of sexism and elitism”, in Guardian
Translations
Arabic أَقَلِّيَّةٌ قَوْمِيَّة
- أَقَلِّيَّةٌ قَوْمِيَّة (ʔaqalliyyatun qawmiyya)people with different characteristics to those of the majority
Bulgarian етни́ческо малцинство́
- етни́ческо малцинство́ (etníčesko malcinstvó)people with different characteristics to those of the majority
Chinese Mandarin 少數民族 /少数民族, 少數族裔 /少数族裔
- 少數民族 /少数民族 (shǎoshù mínzú)people with different characteristics to those of the majority
- 少數族裔 /少数族裔 (shǎoshù zúyì)people with different characteristics to those of the majority
Czech etnická menšina
- etnická menšinapeople with different characteristics to those of the majority
Danish etnisk minoritet
- etnisk minoritetpeople with different characteristics to those of the majority
Dutch etnische minderheid
- etnische minderheidpeople with different characteristics to those of the majority
Estonian rahvusvähemus
- rahvusvähemuspeople with different characteristics to those of the majority
Finnish etninen vähemmistö
- etninen vähemmistöpeople with different characteristics to those of the majority
French minorité ethnique
- minorité ethniquepeople with different characteristics to those of the majority
German ethnische Minderheit
- ethnische Minderheitpeople with different characteristics to those of the majority
Greek εθνοτική μειονότητα
- εθνοτική μειονότητα (ethnotikí meionótita)people with different characteristics to those of the majority
Hungarian etnikai kisebbség
- etnikai kisebbségpeople with different characteristics to those of the majority
Icelandic þjóðernisminnihluti, þjóðernisminnihlutahópur
- þjóðernisminnihlutipeople with different characteristics to those of the majority
- þjóðernisminnihlutahópurpeople with different characteristics to those of the majority
Italian minoranza etnica
- minoranza etnicapeople with different characteristics to those of the majority
Japanese 少数民族
- 少数民族 (shōsū minzoku)people with different characteristics to those of the majority
Korean 소수민족
- 소수민족 (sosuminjok)people with different characteristics to those of the majority
Latvian mazākumtautība
- mazākumtautībapeople with different characteristics to those of the majority
Norwegian Bokmål etnisk minoritet
- etnisk minoritetpeople with different characteristics to those of the majority
Polish mniejszość etniczna
- mniejszość etnicznapeople with different characteristics to those of the majority
Portuguese minoria étnica
- minoria étnicapeople with different characteristics to those of the majority
Russian этни́ческое меньшинство́, национа́льное меньшинство́
- этни́ческое меньшинство́ (etníčeskoje menʹšinstvó)people with different characteristics to those of the majority
- национа́льное меньшинство́ (nacionálʹnoje menʹšinstvó)people with different characteristics to those of the majority
- нацменьшинство́ (nacmenʹšinstvó)people with different characteristics to those of the majority
- нацменьши́нство (nacmenʹšínstvo)people with different characteristics to those of the majority
Slovak etnická menšina
- etnická menšinapeople with different characteristics to those of the majority
Spanish minoría étnica
- minoría étnicapeople with different characteristics to those of the majority
Swedish etnisk minoritet
- etnisk minoritetpeople with different characteristics to those of the majority
Turkish etnik azınlık, ekalliyet
- etnik azınlıkpeople with different characteristics to those of the majority
- ekalliyetpeople with different characteristics to those of the majority
Ukrainian етні́чна менши́на, націона́льна менши́на
- етні́чна менши́на (etníčna menšýna)people with different characteristics to those of the majority
- націона́льна менши́на (nacionálʹna menšýna)people with different characteristics to those of the majority
- нацменши́на (nacmenšýna)people with different characteristics to those of the majority
Vietnamese dân tộc thiểu số, dân tộc ít người
- dân tộc thiểu sốpeople with different characteristics to those of the majority
- dân tộc ít ngườipeople with different characteristics to those of the majority
Cite this entry
APA
ethnic minority. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ethnic%20minority
MLA
“ethnic minority.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ethnic%20minority. Accessed November 5, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “ethnic minority,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ethnic%20minority.
Source: ethnic minority on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.