Na"tion (?), n. [F. nation, L. natio nation, race, orig., a being born, fr. natus, p. p. of
nasci, to be born, for gnatus,
gnasci, from the same root as
E. kin. √44. See Kin kindred, and cf. Cognate, Natal,
Native.]
1.
(Ethnol.) A part, or division, of the people
of the earth, distinguished from the rest
by common descent, language, or institutions; a race; a stock.
All nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues.
Rev. vii. 9.
2. The body of inhabitants of a country,
united under an independent government of their own.
A nation
is the unity of a people.
Coleridge.
Praise the power that hath made and
preserved us a nation.
F. S. Key. 3.
Family; lineage. [Obs.] Chaucer.
4. (a) One of the
divisions of university
students in a classification according to nativity, formerly common in Europe. (b) (Scotch
Universities) One of the four divisions (named from the parts of Scotland) in which students were classified according to their nativity.
5. A great number; a great deal;
-- by way of
emphasis; as, a nation of herbs. Sterne.
Five nations. See under Five. -- Law of nations. See International law, under International, and
Law.
Syn. -- people; race. See People.
Hear it pronounced