Nation-state
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 A political entity (a state) associated with a common national identity (historically, culturally, or ethnically; as with a nation) and a sovereign territorial unit.
"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 Any independent political state; a country. broadly, proscribed
Example
More examples"Israel's nation-state law served as a rallying point for those who believed the country could not simultaneously be democratic and a Jewish state."
Etymology
Compound of nation + state. Coined c. 1890s under the influence of European languages; compare German Nationalstaat (from 1840s), Italian Stato-nazione (from 1860s).
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.