Etymograph

English

nation

Nation comes from Middle English nacioun, from Old French nacion, from Latin nātiō (accusative nātiōnem) ‘nation’.

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEnātiō1‘nation’
  2. Old Frenchc. 842–1400nacion1‘birth, nation’
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500nacioun1
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1611nation1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English nation
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1611, The Holy Bible, London: […] Robert Barker: “All the ends of the woꝛld ſhall remember, and…”.

Lineage

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEnātiōWiktionary, English nation‘nation’
  2. Old Frenchc. 842–1400nacionWiktionary, English nation‘birth, nation’
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500naciounWiktionary, English nation
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1611nationWiktionary, English nation. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1611, The Holy Bible, London: […] Robert Barker: “All the ends of the woꝛld ſhall remember, and…”

Word family

English words that share an ancestor with nation, grouped by the ancestor they share, most familiar first.

through Proto-Indo-European *ǵenh₁- ‘to produce’

  • general ← generālis ← genus ← *genos ← *ǵénh₁os
  • king ← cening ← *kuning ← *kuningaz ← *kunją
  • german ← germain ← germānus ← germen ← *genamen
  • engine ← engyn ← ingenium ← gignō ← *gignō
  • gender ← gendre ← gendre ← genus ← *genos
  • nature ← nātūral ← nāscor ← *gnāskōr ← *ǵn̥h₁-sḱé-ti
  • genuine ← genuīnus
  • gene ← Gen ← γενεά ← *genehā́ ← *ǵenh₁eseh₂
  • pregnant ← preignant ← preignant ← praegnāns ← nāscor
  • genius ← gignō ← *gignō ← *ǵíǵn̥h₁eti
  • oxygen ← oxygène ← γένος ← *génos ← *ǵénh₁os
  • ken ← kennen ← cennan ← *kannjan ← *kanjaną

153 more relatives in the full family tree

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Today it means

noun A historically constituted, stable community of people, formed based on a common language, territory, economic life, ethnicity and/or psychological make-up manifested in a common culture.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “nation”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Latin nātiō / nation