Meanings
plural nation-states · alternative nation state
- governmentA political entity (a state) associated with a common national identity (historically, culturally, or ethnically; as with a nation) and a sovereign territorial unit.
1 more example
Two years on, and while the Sultan of Slowjamastan has instigated more than a few bizarre laws (he’s outlawed the wearing of Crocs, for example), the Republic also has all the trappings of a fledgling nation-state. It issues its own passports, flies its own flag, prints its own currency (“the duble”), and has a national anthem that’s played on state occasions.
2023 June 8, Richard Collett, “He ran out of countries to visit, so he created his own”, in CNN
Origin
Compound of nation + state. Coined c. 1890s under the influence of European languages; compare German Nationalstaat (from 1840s), Italian Stato-nazione (from 1860s).
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans nasiestaat
- nasiestaatpolity
Arabic دَوْلَة قَوْمِيَّة
- دَوْلَة قَوْمِيَّةpolity
Basque nazio-estatu
- nazio-estatupolity
Bengali জাতিরাষ্ট্র
- জাতিরাষ্ট্র (jatiraśṭro)polity
Bulgarian национална държава
- национална държава (nacionalna dăržava)polity
Catalan estat nació
- estat naciópolity
Chinese Mandarin 民族國家 /民族国家
- 民族國家 /民族国家 (mínzú guójiā)polity
Czech národní stát
- národní státpolity
Danish nationalstat
- nationalstatpolity
Dutch natiestaat
- natiestaatpolity
Esperanto nacio-ŝtato
- nacio-ŝtatopolity
Estonian rahvusriik
- rahvusriikpolity
Finnish kansallisvaltio
- kansallisvaltiopolity
French État-nation
- État-nationpolity
German Nationalstaat
- Nationalstaatpolity
Greek εθνικό κράτος
- εθνικό κράτος (ethnikó krátos)polity
Hebrew מדינת לאום
- מדינת לאום (m'dinát lóm)polity
Hindi राष्ट्र-राज्य
- राष्ट्र-राज्य (rāṣṭra-rājya)polity
Hungarian nemzetállam
- nemzetállampolity
Icelandic þjóðríki
- þjóðríkipolity
Indonesian negara-bangsa
- negara-bangsapolity
Irish náisiúnstát
- náisiúnstátpolity
Italian Stato-nazione
- Stato-nazionepolity
Japanese 国民国家
- 国民国家 (kokumin-kokka)polity
Korean 국민 국가
- 국민 국가 (gungmin gukga)polity
Latvian nacionāla valsts
- nacionāla valstspolity
Lithuanian tautos valstybė
- tautos valstybėpolity
Malay negara bangsa
- negara bangsapolity
Norwegian Bokmål nasjonalstat
- nasjonalstatpolity
Persian دولت ملی
- دولت ملی (dowlat melli)polity
Polish państwo narodowe
- państwo narodowepolity
Portuguese estado-nação
- estado-naçãopolity
Punjabi ਕੌਮੀ ਰਾਜ
- ਕੌਮੀ ਰਾਜ (kaumī rāj)polity
Romanian stat național
- stat naționalpolity
Russian национа́льное госуда́рство, госуда́рство-на́ция
- национа́льное госуда́рство (nacionálʹnoje gosudárstvo)polity
- госуда́рство-на́ция (gosudárstvo-nácija)polity
Slovak národný štát
- národný štátpolity
Spanish estado-nación
- estado-naciónpolity
Swedish nationalstat
- nationalstatpolity
Tamil தேசிய அரசு
- தேசிய அரசு (tēciya aracu)polity
Thai รัฐชาติ
- รัฐชาติ (rát-châat)polity
Turkish ulus devlet
- ulus devletpolity
Ukrainian націона́льна держа́ва
- націона́льна держа́ва (nacionálʹna deržáva)polity
Urdu قومی ریاست
- قومی ریاست (qaumi riyāsat)polity
Vietnamese quốc gia dân tộc
- quốc gia dân tộcpolity
Welsh cenedl-wladwriaeth
- cenedl-wladwriaethpolity
Cite this entry
nation-state. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/nation-state
“nation-state.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/nation-state. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “nation-state,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/nation-state.
Source: nation-state on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.