Ethnically

How to spell ethnically

10 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce ethnically

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does ethnically mean?

1. adverbIn a way that relates to a group defined by shared cultural, national, or racial heritage.

Ethnically in a sentence

• The census records how ethnically diverse each city has become.

• The neighbourhood is ethnically mixed, with families from many backgrounds.

Where does ethnically come from?

Language of origin: Greek

The word traces back to the Greek ethnos, which meant a 'nation', a 'people', or a group bound together by shared custom and descent. In its plural form ta ethne the Greeks used it for foreign nations, and early Christian writers borrowed that sense to mean the gentiles or heathen peoples, which is why the related noun 'ethnic' first entered English in the 1400s with the meaning 'pagan'. Over the centuries the religious overtone faded, and by the 1800s 'ethnic' had taken on its modern sense of belonging to a group defined by shared cultural, national, or racial heritage. The adverb 'ethnically' is the fully built-out form, stacking the adjective suffixes -ic and -al before adding -ly, which explains why the word carries that double layer in the middle. The same Greek ethnos also lies behind 'ethnography' and 'ethnology', and the silent-feeling 'th' plus the stacked endings are exactly what trip up writers reaching for the spelling.

How the word is built

• ethn- (from Greek ethnos: nation, people)
• -ic (adjective)
• -al (adjective)
• -ly (adverb)