[syn: heathen, heathenish, pagan, ethnic]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Ethnic \Eth"nic\, Ethnical \Eth"nic*al\, a. [L. ethnicus, Gr. ?,
fr. ? nation, ? ? the nations, heathens, gentiles: cf. F.
ethnique.]
1. Belonging to races or nations; based on distinctions of
race; ethnological.
[1913 Webster]
2. Pertaining to the gentiles, or nations not converted to
Christianity; heathen; pagan; -- opposed to Jewish and
Christian.
[1913 Webster]
3. of or pertaining to a group having a distinct racial,
cultural, religious or linguistic character; as, ethnic
differences within a population can cause civil war.
[PJC]
4. being a member of a distinct racial or cultural minority
within a larger population; as, ethnic Chinese own most of
the businesses in Indonesia.
[PJC]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Ethnic \Eth"nic\n.
1. A heathen; a pagan. [Obs.]
[1913 Webster]
No better reported than impure ethnic and lay dogs.
--Milton.
[1913 Webster]
2. a member of an ethnic group.
[PJC]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
ethnic
adj 1: denoting or deriving from or distinctive of the ways of
living built up by a group of people; "influenced by
ethnic and cultural ties"- J.F.Kennedy; "ethnic food"
[syn: cultural, ethnic, ethnical]
2: not acknowledging the God of Christianity and Judaism and
Islam [syn: heathen, heathenish, pagan, ethnic]
n 1: a person who is a member of an ethnic group