TraceHanzi

民族 meaning in English

mínzú

nationality; ethnic group

HSK 3noun16 strokes

Meaning of 民族

Definitions from CC-CEDICT.

mínzú
  1. nationality; ethnic group

How to use 民族

民族 is used for ethnic groups and for a nation as a people, and it often appears in phrases like 少数民族 (shǎoshù mínzú, ethnic minority). Example: 中国有五十六个民族。(Zhōngguó yǒu wǔshíliù gè mínzú.) China has fifty-six ethnic groups.

民 (mín) means the people, and 族 (zú) means a clan or group. Put them together and you get a group of people who share a common identity: an ethnic group or nation.

Common mistake: Learners often use 民族 when they mean nationality in the passport sense. For citizenship, say 国籍 (guójí), since 民族 refers to ethnic identity. Also keep 民 rising and 族 rising: mínzú, not mǐnzú.

民族 in example sentences

Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.

我wǒ不bú是shì个gè民mín族zú主zhǔ义yì者zhě，我wǒ是shì爱ài国guó者zhě。
I'm not a nationalist, I'm a patriot.
你nǐ不bù能néng将jiāng民mín族zú主zhǔ义yì与yǔ法fǎ西xī斯sī混hùn为wéi一yī谈tán。
You can't equate nationalism with fascism.
中zhōng国guó有yǒu56个gè民mín族zú。
There are 56 ethnic groups in China.
阿ā非fēi利lì康kāng族zú是shì源yuán在zài南nán非fēi形xíng成chéng的de民mín族zú。
Afrikaners are the people originated in South Africa.
世shì界jiè上shàng有yǒu很hěn多duō不bù同tóng的de民mín族zú。
There are a lot of different peoples in the world.

Stroke order for each character

Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.

民 mín · citizens · 5 strokes

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5

族 zú · race · 11 strokes

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
  6. 6
  7. 7
  8. 8
  9. 9
  10. 10
  11. 11

Related words

Words that share a character with 民族.

人民rénmínthe people
公民gōngmíncitizen
农民nóngmínpeasant; farmer
民间mínjiānamong the people; popular
人民币rénmínbìRenminbi, the official currency of the PRC (currency codes: RMB or CNY)
中华民族Zhōnghuá Mínzúthe Chinese nation; the Chinese people (collective reference to all the ethnic groups in C
居民jūmínresident; inhabitant
移民yímínto immigrate; to migrate
国民guómínnationals; citizens
市民shìmíncity resident; townspeople
民主mínzhǔdemocracy; democratic
上班族shàngbānzúoffice workers (as social group)

Questions about 民族

What does 民族 mean?

民族 (mínzú) means "nationality; ethnic group" and is used as a noun.

How do you write 民族?

民族 is made of 2 characters: 民 (5 strokes), 族 (11 strokes). That is 16 strokes in total.

Is 民族 an HSK word?

Yes. 民族 is on the HSK 3 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.

What is the difference between 民族 and 国家?

国家 (guójiā) is a country or state as a political unit. 民族 is a people or ethnic group defined by shared culture, language, or ancestry. One 国家 can contain many 民族.

What does 民族 mean in 中华民族?

In 中华民族 (Zhōnghuá Mínzú), 民族 means the nation as a whole people. It is a collective term for all the ethnic groups in China, not just one group.

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