nationale

Nationale is the feminine form of the French adjective national, used to describe things relating to a nation or to a national level. It agrees in gender with the noun it modifies, so masculine nouns take national while feminine nouns take nationale. It appears in a wide range of expressions, such as culture nationale, identité nationale, économie nationale, and équipe nationale (the national team).

In common usage, nationale functions in many contexts to signal national scope, origin, or policy. It can modify abstract nouns like identité, culture, ou économie, as well as concrete nouns such as équipe or institutions. The form is also encountered in compound titles and names, especially when the head noun is feminine. For example, Assemblée nationale is the official name of the lower house of the French Parliament in France, where the feminine noun and agreement with nationale is part of a fixed institutional title.

Etymology traces nationale to the Latin nationalis, via Old French. Over time it has remained a standard part of the French lexicon for describing things associated with a nation, in contrast with terms denoting regional, local, or international scope.

Capitalization and styling vary by language and guide. In running text, the adjective is typically lowercase, unless it is part of a proper noun or official title, in which case it may be capitalized as seen in governmental or institutional names. Related terms include national, nation, nationalité, and nationalisme.