nation

noun

1. 1

   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.

   The Roma are a nation without a country.

   pre-Columbian nations

   All the ends of the woꝛld ſhall remember, and turne vnto the Lord: and all the kinreds of the nations ſhall woꝛſhip befoꝛe thee.

2. 2

   informalA 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. A community united by some trait (especially an interest) but not historically constituted.

   Near-synonym: tribe

   the Dallas Cowboys nation

   the hip-hop nation

   Did Pinterest create a culture of do-it-yourselfers, or did the DIY nation create Pinterest? The answer may not be certain, but we do know that a lot of customers love to do things on their own.

3. 3

   A sovereign state; (loosely, metonymic, proscribed) a country.

   Though legally single nations, many states comprise several distinct cultural or ethnic groups.

   It is tempting to speculate about the incentives or compulsions that might explain why anyone would take to the skies in [the] basket [of a balloon]: […] perhaps to muse on the irrelevance of the borders that separate nation states and keep people from understanding their shared environment.

   By the start of the 19th century, Europe was neckdeep in the Napoleonic Wars, which, at various times, amounted to the British Empire against Europe, and, at others, involved Britain subsidising various nations, such as Austria and Prussia, against Napoleon.

4. 4

   historicalAn association of students based on the birthplace or ethnicity of its members.

   Once widespread across Europe in medieval times, nations are now largely restricted to the ancient universities of Sweden and Finland.

5. 5

   obsoleteA great number; a great deal.

   […]and what a nation of herbs he had procured to mollify her humours, &c. &c.[…]

6. 6

   In North America, an Indigenous people with federal and/or state recognition as such and (often also) their federally recognized territory.

   The Choctaw Nation is the third-largest federally recognized tribe in the United States and the second-largest Indian reservation in area.

   The term Navajo Nation refers both to the people and to their territory.

noun

1. 1

   rareDamnation.

   ... what the nation's the matter of that boy now ? If he's got them highsterics ag'in , I'll blister him from the crown of his head to the soles of his feet , sure as he's a - livin ' . " The doctor took up his hat and started out to meet[…]

   O nation!.. if I were a man, […]

   What the nation's the matter now?

   "What the nation's the matter with our John?" he broke off suddenly as his eyes fell on the occupant of the cot.

adverb

1. 1

   rareExtremely, very.

   “Looky here, Bilgewater,” he says, “I’m nation sorry for you, but you ain’t the only person that’s had troubles like that.”

   "Beleddy, Mester, yo're a dab hand at axing questions, at ony rate! One has to look back a 'nation long way into one's books to find what yo I axen after.

   But no sense ov a place, some think, Is this here hill so high, - 'Cos there, full oft, 'tis nation coad, But that don't argufy.

   '... they seem 'nation fond of one another.' 'He haven't knowed her such a very long time,' said Job Mitchell dubiously.

adjective

1. 1

   rareAn intensifier; extreme, great.

   ... a nation deal o' trouble to captivate him.

   ... a nation lot of hunters assembled, for it war known there war plenty of game ...

   ... a nation sight o' buzzin' an', ez Mr. Mayfield says,

   I might not have been in such a nation hurry to jump from my cart to keep him from being pitched on the stones!

Forms

plural

nations