Nationalist
nounA person who strongly identifies with their own nation and promotes its interests or independence.
How to spell nationalist
11 letters · 4 syllables
How to pronounce nationalist
Say the part in capitals loudest.
What does nationalist mean?
- nounA person who strongly identifies with their own nation and promotes its interests or independence.
- adjectiveRelating to or expressing strong devotion to one's own nation and its interests.
Nationalist in a sentence
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noun
The candidate was a committed nationalist who campaigned for independence.
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adjective
The rally drew thousands waving flags in a wave of nationalist pride.
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noun
As a nationalist, he argued that the country should control its own borders.
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adjective
The nationalist party gained seats in the regional election.
Where does nationalist come from?
Language of origin: Latin
The word grows out of the Latin natio, which meant 'a people' or literally 'a being born', since it derives from the verb nasci, 'to be born'. That same birth-root gives us 'native', 'nativity', and 'nature'. English took 'nation' from Old French during the 1300s to mean a large group of people sharing descent and language. The abstract noun 'nationalism' and the agent noun 'nationalist' were then built on it with Latin-derived suffixes, surfacing in English in the late 1700s and gaining wide political use through the 1800s as movements for self-rule spread across Europe. The spelling simply stacks 'nation' plus '-al' plus '-ist', so remembering the buried 'nation' keeps the unstressed middle vowels in order.
How the word is built
- nation (from Latin natio: a people, a birth)
- -al (adjective)
- -ist (one who holds a belief or does a thing)
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