nationalism

UK/ˈnæʃənəlɪz(ə)m/US/ˈnæʃ(ə)nəˌlɪzəm/

nounB2+Rare in speech; mostly a word you read · #12,506 of 15,258mostly written

Other forms: nationalisms

Nationalism is strong devotion to the interests of your own country. Rising nationalism, economic nationalism, a nationalist party.

The word cuts both ways depending on who is using it: for a people under rule from elsewhere it names a movement for independence, and for a great power it names something else entirely. Patriotism is the warmer word for a related feeling.

Definitions of nationalism

1nounnationalismStrong devotion to the interests of your own country.B2+
“The rise of nationalism in the nineteenth century helped to unite Italy and Germany.”

nationalism is a belief.

Where it comes from

French nationalisme comes from nation, from Latin natio, a people or birth.

Proto-Indo-European
*ǵenh₁-
French
nationalisme
English, today
nationalism

French nationalisme, equivalent to national + -ism.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practise this word

nationalism in the wild

There are various definitions of a "nation", which leads to different types of nationalism.
Nationalism
Among the key themes of Romanticism, and its most enduring legacy, the cultural assertions of romantic nationalism have also been central in post-Enlightenment art and political philosophy.
Romantic nationalism
Irish nationalism is a nationalist ideology which, in its broadest sense, asserts that the people of Ireland should govern Ireland as a sovereign state.
Irish nationalism
Quebec nationalism plays a central role in the political movement for the independence of Quebec from Canada.
Quebec nationalism
Civic nationalism is frequently contrasted with ethnic nationalism.
Civic nationalism

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

Related words

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