| 释义 |
ethnic
I. ethnic noun
(-s)
Etymology: Middle English, from Late Latin ethnicus, from Greek ethnikos, adjective
obsolete : heathen, pagan
< impure ethnics — John Milton >
II. eth·nic \ˈethnik, -nēk\ adjective
Etymology: Middle English, from Late Latin ethnicus, from Greek ethnikos foreign, gentile, national, from ethnos nation + -ikos -ic — more at ethnos
1. : of or relating to the Gentiles or to nations not converted to Christianity : heathen, pagan
< ancient ethnic revels of a faith long since forsaken — H.W.Longfellow >
2.
a. : relating to community of physical and mental traits possessed by the members of a group as a product of their common heredity and cultural tradition
< influenced by ethnic and cultural ties — J.F.Kennedy >
< the boundaries along the West African coast were not plotted with regard to the ancient ethnic frontiers — A.H.Young-O'Brien >
b. : having or originating from racial, linguistic, and cultural ties with a specific group
< Negroes, Irish, Italians, Germans, Poles, and other ethnic groups — F.J.Brown & J.S.Roucek >
< displaced persons, 653 of them ethnic Germans — New York Herald Tribune >
3. : originating in an exotic primitive culture
< ethnic music >
III. ethnic noun
(-s)
Etymology: Greek ethnikon, neuter of ethnikos national
: ethnicon
IV. ethnic noun
: a member of an ethnic group ; especially : a member of a minority group who retains the customs, language, or social views of his group |