nation-state

See also: nation state

English

Alternative forms

Etymology

Compound of nation +‎ state. Coined c. 1890s under the influence of European languages; compare German Nationalstaat (from 1840s), Italian Stato-nazione (from 1860s).

Noun

nation-state (plural nation-states)

  1. (politics) A political entity (a state) associated with a common national identity (historically, culturally, or ethnically; as with a nation) and a sovereign territorial unit.
    Coordinate terms: ethnostate, civilization-state
    • 2023 June 8, Richard Collett, “He ran out of countries to visit, so he created his own”, in CNN‎[1]:
      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.
  2. (more generally, proscribed) Any independent political state; a country.

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