nationality
na·tion·al·i·ty/ˌnæʃ.əˈnæl.ɪ.ti/noun
nationality is spelled N-A-T-I-O-N-A-L-I-T-Y: 11 letters and 5 syllables (na·tion·al·i·ty). It appears 5.2 times per million words in written English, the 10,843rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, nationality means “Legal membership of a particular nation or state, by origin, birth, naturalization, ownership, allegiance or otherwise” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of nationality is nationalities.
How many letters and syllables are in nationality?
| Letters | 11: N-A-T-I-O-N-A-L-I-T-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 5: na·tion·al·i·ty |
| In writing | 5.2 times per million words; the 10,843rd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is nationality?
Nationality appears 5.2 times per million words in written English, the 10,843rd most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce nationality?
- /ˌnæʃ.əˈnæl.ɪ.ti/
- /ˌnæʃˈnæl.ɪ.ti/
- /-ˈnæl.ə.ti/
Nationality has 5 syllables, split na·tion·al·i·ty in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-nationality.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of nationality
- nationalities plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does nationality mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
Legal membership of a particular nation or state, by origin, birth, naturalization, ownership, allegiance or otherwise.
By living in the country for five years, you are entitled to get nationality.
- 2
A people sharing a common origin, culture and/or language, and possibly constituting a nation-state.
- 3
archaicNational, i.e. ethnic and/or cultural, character or identity.
- 4
archaicNationalism or patriotism.
- 5
obsoletePolitical existence, independence or unity as a national entity.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Nationality in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense membership of a nation or state:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | nationalité |
| German | Nationalität |
| Portuguese | nacionalidade |
| Spanish | nacionalidad |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does nationality come from?
From national + -ity, perhaps after French nationalité; ultimately from Latin nātio (“nation, people”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).