ethnic
- ethnic
ethnic
is now principally used to denote a section of a community having distinct racial, cultural, religious, or linguistic characteristics not shared by the rest of the community. Ethnic is typically used to describe clothing, dance, music, and other customs that distinguish such people:
• The Radio Authority has helpfully decreed that classical music, light orchestra and non-amplified jazz, folk, country and ethnic music aren't pop —Times Educational Supplement, 1991
• Vegetarian dishes in various ethnic cuisines —Mexican, Thai, Indian, Italian, Japanese, Middle Eastern, etc. —New Musical Express, 1991.
An ethnic minority (first recorded in 1945) is a section of a community that forms a minority within a larger community, for example Sikhs, Muslims, and West Indian people in Britain. In a further development of the term, people are described as being (for example) ethnic Turks when they are of Turkish origin but living in a country other than Turkey; in recent times we have heard a great deal about ethnic Vietnamese in Cambodia and ethnic Albanians in Serbia:
• The ethnic Albanian ministers had been tendering their resignations one by one since late March —Keesings, 1990.
Modern English usage.
2014.
:
Look at other dictionaries:
ethnic — UK US /ˈeθnɪk/ adjective ► relating to a race or national group of people: »The factory s workforce reflects the ethnic mix of the local population. ► from a different race, or interesting because characteristic of an ethnic group which is very… … Financial and business terms
ethnic — (n.) late 14c., Scottish, heathen, pagan, and having that sense first in English; as an adj. from late 15c. from L. ethnicus, Gk. ethnikos, from ethnos band of people living together, nation, people, prop. “people of one s own kind,” from PIE … Etymology dictionary
Ethnic — Eth nic, Ethnical Eth nic*al, a. [L. ethnicus, Gr. ?, fr. ? nation, ? ? the nations, heathens, gentiles: cf. F. ethnique.] 1. Belonging to races or nations; based on distinctions of race; ethnological. [1913 Webster] 2. Pertaining to the gentiles … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English
Ethnic — Eth nic . 1. A heathen; a pagan. [Obs.] [1913 Webster] No better reported than impure ethnic and lay dogs. Milton. [1913 Webster] 2. a member of an ethnic group. [PJC] … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English
ethnic — ► ADJECTIVE 1) relating to a group of people having a common national or cultural tradition. 2) referring to origin by birth rather than by present nationality: ethnic Albanians. 3) relating to a non Western cultural tradition: ethnic music.… … English terms dictionary
ethnic — [eth′nik] adj. [ME ethnik < LL(Ec) ethnicus, pagan < Gr ethnikos, national (in LGr(Ec), gentile, heathen) < ethnos, nation, people, ta ethnē, nations (in LXX, non Jews, in N.T., gentile Christians): akin to ēthos: see ETHICAL] 1. Now… … English World dictionary
ethnic — [adj] racial, cultural indigenous, national, native, traditional, tribal; concept 549 … New thesaurus
ethnic — 01. There is often prejudice against minority [ethnic] groups. 02. The former Yugoslavia is having a lot of problems with conflicts between the different [ethnic] groups in the region. 03. I believe that Chinese speakers are the second largest… … Grammatical examples in English
ethnic — eth|nic1 [ eθnık ] adjective ** 1. ) relating to a group of people who have the same culture and traditions: The country s population consists of three main ethnic groups. a ) used about fighting between people from different ethnic groups living … Usage of the words and phrases in modern English
ethnic — eth|nic1 W3 [ˈeθnık] adj [Date: 1300 1400; : Late Latin; Origin: ethnicus, from Greek ethnikos, from ethnos nation, people ] 1.) relating to a particular race, nation, or tribe and their customs and traditions ▪ The school teaches pupils from… … Dictionary of contemporary English
