ethnic

Ethnic is an adjective used to describe groups or phenomena related to ethnicity, the social category that identifies people by shared cultural traits such as language, religion, ancestry, historical experiences, or national origin. Ethnic can modify nouns to refer to people (ethnic group, ethnic minority), practices (ethnic music, ethnic cuisine), or places (ethnic enclave). The noun ethnicity refers to the sense of belonging to such a group, or the group itself, and is commonly used in sociology, anthropology, and political science.

Etymology: from Greek ethnos, meaning “a people” or “nation,” with the suffix -ic.

Conceptually, ethnicity is widely understood as a social construct rather than a fixed biological determinant. Ethnic identity can be self-identified or attributed by others and may change over time through migration, intermarriage, assimilation, or political circumstance. Ethnicity often intersects with but is not identical to race, nationality, or religion, and can both shape and be shaped by social institutions, policy, and representation.

In public discourse and policy, references to ethnicity appear in demographic statistics, affirmative action debates, education, health, and cultural preservation. Ethnic labels can mobilize solidarity but also risk stereotyping, essentialism, or exclusion. Critics emphasize that ethnicity is fluid and context-dependent, and advocate drawing attention to individuals’ rights and social inclusion rather than reductive categorizations.

See also: ethnicity, ethnic group, ethnic minority, ethnic cleansing, ethnicity in politics.