Na"tion (?), n. [F. nation, L.
natio nation, race, orig., a being born, fr. natus, p.
p. of nasci, to be born, for gnatus, gnasci,
from the same root as E. kin. √44. See Kin
kindred, and cf. Cognate, Natal, Native.]
1. (Ethnol.) A part, or division, of the
people of the earth, distinguished from the rest by common descent,
language, or institutions; a race; a stock.
All nations, and kindreds, and people, and
tongues.
Rev. vii. 9.
2. The body of inhabitants of a country,
united under an independent government of their own.
A nation is the unity of a people.
Coleridge.
Praise the power that hath made and preserved us a
nation.
F. S. Key.
3. Family; lineage. [Obs.]
Chaucer.
4. (a) One of the divisions
of university students in a classification according to nativity,
formerly common in Europe. (b) (Scotch
Universities) One of the four divisions (named from the
parts of Scotland) in which students were classified according to
their nativity.
5. A great number; a great deal; -- by way of
emphasis; as, a nation of herbs. Sterne.
Five nations. See under Five. --
Law of nations. See International law,
under International, and Law.
Syn. -- people; race. See People.