ethnicity

From ethnic +‎ -ity.

• IPA^(key): /ɛθˈnɪsɪti/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪsɪti

ethnicity (countable and uncountable, plural ethnicities)

1. The common characteristics of a group of people, especially regarding ancestry, culture, language or national experiences.
   • 2012 March-April, Jan Sapp, “Race Finished”, in American Scientist‎^[1], volume 100, number 2, archived from the original on 5 September 2015, page 164:

     Few concepts are as emotionally charged as that of race. The word conjures up a mixture of associations—culture, ethnicity, genetics, subjugation, exclusion and persecution. But is the tragic history of efforts to define groups of people by race really a matter of the misuse of science, the abuse of a valid biological concept? […] After all, more and more diseases are reportedly correlated with ethnicity and race.

2. An ethnic group.
   • 2021 December 14, Hibaq Farah, quoting Zee S, “‘BTS taught me that I am worthy’: readers on why they love the K-pop superstars”, in The Guardian‎^[2], archived from the original on 24 April 2022:

     As a young Asian American, I was lucky growing up in an inclusive suburb, where although known to be predominantly Caucasian, all blends of cultures and ethnicities were embodied in the school populations. That said, the “K-wave” had not reached the depths of Naperville yet, and I remember K-pop lovers being perceived as outcasts all over the States.

3. (casual, euphemistic) Race; common ancestry.

In common use, ethnicity is used as a euphemism for the sensitive term race, but with identical meaning: group ancestry and physical characteristics, such as skin color, as in “ethnic Chinese”. In careful use, it refers to any common characteristic or identity, particularly linguistic, national, regional, or religious groups, and can cut across race, such as Hispanic/Latino; or be a subgroup of a racial group, as in German Texan, Chinese Indonesians, Nuyorican (New York Puerto Rican), etc.