"ethnic" in seven languages
Meaningethnic
Spanish
étnico
/ˈetniko/
learned
French
ethnique
/ɛtnik/
learned
Italian
etnico
/ˈɛtniko/
learned
Portuguese
étnico
/ˈɛtʃiniku/
learned
Romanian
etnic
/ˈetnik/
learned
Catalan
ètnic
/ˈɛtnik/
learned
English
ethnic
/ˈɛθnɪk/
from Latin/French · Late Latin ETHNICUS, from Greek
English → ItalianethnicetnicoCognateSame source — inherited, learned or borrowed. You can recognize it.What English and Italian share
The Latin ancestor
ETHNICUM (Greek ethnikós)‘heathen; of a people (éthnos)’
All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.
The story
Greek éthnos was 'a people'; Church Latin used ETHNICUS for 'pagan', and the neutral sense 'of a people' is modern. Only English keeps the th sound.
English relatives: ethnicity, ethnology
Learn it
In a sentence
- esLa ciudad tiene muchos grupos étnicos.
- frLa ville compte de nombreux groupes ethniques.
- itLa città ha molti gruppi etnici.
- ptA cidade tem muitos grupos étnicos.
- roOrașul are multe grupuri etnice.
- caLa ciutat té molts grups ètnics.
- enThe city has many ethnic groups.