Ethne

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A group of people sharing a common cultural, ethnic, or ancestral background; a community defined by shared traditions, language, or heritage; a classification of humans based on cultural identity
2. A collective of individuals linked by similar ethnic origins or cultural traits; a social group distinguished by common customs, language, and history; an ethnic population characterized by shared identity
3. A population segment unified by cultural or ancestral connections; an identity-based social group marked by shared heritage and practices; a categorial term for distinct ethnic communities or peoples

Etymology: "Ethne" is the plural of "ethnos", a Greek noun that originally meant a band of people, a company, or a group of companions rather than a nation in the modern sense. Ancient Greek writers used it for any sizable grouping: a troop of soldiers, a flock of animals, or a people living under shared customs. Greek writers also used "ethnos" to describe non-Greeks collectively, which is why the word later came to carry the sense of foreign peoples as opposed to the Greek polis. English took the word directly from Ancient Greek, and the plural "ethne" is the form you see in scholarly writing, most often in anthropology and classical studies, where authors want to keep the Greek ending. The modern sense of a community bound together by shared language, custom and descent is a later development that grew from the Greek core of belonging to a collective group.

Synonyms: ethnic group, nation, people